Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 1, 1878, Page 2

v s \ 4 A ‘These partles beinc out of the trade others wera more wary, as they lacked encouragement from those who had herctofore been looked up ro as ~dera; and ao there has heen a growing tndis- tion, na well nan lersencd ability. to Invest i0 Jong futnres. Hut therewaa stlil another ¢ for the falling off £ this branch of trade, strong cffort amang the leading packers to § a direct market for thefr roods without the 1of the the middicman, —English purchasers d atready sent thelr capital here to_be Inveat- in packing-ouses, whero the meats and od they wanted ‘chlcn_r mealn) were pre- red and forwarded neariv all the year und, without being boughtand sol¢ . 'Change wing the past year somo of our L. wling nack- have entered fnto competition with these en on their own ground, aud have appoeinted nis not anly in the leading cities of the old urld, but in the aties of this country, who so- it orders and rend them here to boilled, In " way alarge part of the S8outh {3 now sup- ilica direct from this citv, instead of takiog the Wi from parties. In Baltimore who had for- ierly bought It In Chleago and Cincinoatis and ie_once much-celebrated provislon trade of altimore is now mostly a thing of the past. ur packers now supply the FEnglish, French, 1 German porta direct with lard aud meats, @ have even received ORDERS PROM ALGIENS, sero there aro Freuchmen who will eat hoe- ah, if the native Mussulmans will not, But ‘_tends to diminish the volume of specula. o trading here. Formerly a trader would nd an order to buy a round lot of stuf for “ery In some future month. A turnin the kei hefora-the date of delivery wonld in- i him to soll, and he would sgain buy jt; ad thus perhaps five or elx speculative pur- “ases would grow out of the one actual ship- ment. This attracted other trading, and the — fesult was an active business for the brokers, the sending of a great deal of money here to be used as margins, and 2 jucrative mrr{hxu trade, tho storage ac- esunt of one packing firm haviog amounted to about $200,900 in a single year. With tho ad- vent of the direct onder aystem all this is dying out, and the change carrics with it & decided tendency tolow prices for hoga and product. Not havinz so many contracts ahesd, which mwust bo Atled, the packers are less likely to ' competo with each other forhogs and bid up the price of the raw materfal. The determination of the trade to continuous cutting all the year round, accompanied by an evident appreciation of fresh meat by cunsumers, will probahly pre- vent the accumulation of vast quantitles of product as the result of a winter's work, to be carried through the summer til) wanted for con- sumption, and turned over by operators from one month to another. The rule which caing o 1o farce tiyo mooths ago, makiag sll provislons regular if they confortn to standards of style and quallty, fgnoring tha question whether they wero put up in winter or In swmmer, will un- doubtedly conduce to chianges in the trade dur- ? ing the coming yearh the magnitude snd dirce- ,° tion of which can only be gucssel at now. : TIE PROSPECT FOR TOE TRADE. ’JL fs a small speculative business, which has hith. erto been the safety-valve of the packer in con- I ducting his winter work; n lessened necessity therefor, as the teuduncy now s tocutall the nd, the consuming world having at und out the fact that freshly-cured uch the best; and low prices, whicn her stimulate consumption. Corn at bu will make hogs 4¢ per Ib gross, which about $11.5) per bri for pork, and not 1.mare than Gige per Ib on lard, with meats can be Jald down on the British seaboard i34 pence per 1b, and retalled ot & peace in o English markets. Italso means that Chi- igo will contral tho provision trade of the vorld even more fully in the future than In the paat. Her packers, favored by climate and position. have cut down the cost of production and bandling to a point where they cannot be comneted with by packers either Bouthward or Fastward, and now druw their hogs from nearly every part of the United States, oxedpt the tar 4Fast and South. Thoy now distribute their work In time all round the {eu, and thelr prod- uct in space o}l over the civilized wnrl‘ ‘{1t CONSUMPTION OF OUR BEEP has really increased durlng the past year much more Jargely than that of pork proanet; but we can scarcely claim to havan niarket forlt here, ‘The business s conducted entirely off *Change, + and [, occastonally, the reporters get hold of o sale of 100 bria peef, they may ba aure that the rurchuo was mado **at the oflice.”” Uur trado n canned beef hs grown to envrmous dinen- slong, but it rather belongs to the departoient -+ of manufactures than tothat of the produce markets. = FLOUR, THE MARKET FOR FLOUR has presented few new features during the past — Year, except those intidental to the upward and downward movement of wheat. It has gener- ally ruled dutl, with 2 sialler volume of busi- ness than usual, one great reason for which fs the followlng: Duriug a largze part of the year wheat has been heavily discounted for future dellvery. ‘T'he hears have sold it dawn ahead, and found when the time came for makiug deliveries that tho demand forcash wheat had kept the market &0 bare of stock that spot wheat commanded a big premium. ‘Che Intter indicated prico dictatedthe p: cost of producing flour, while the vicws of Gour huyers appeared to be based upon the quotn- tious for futures,~their clalm belng that tho promium was oaly o temporary matter, due to local excitement. Henee shippers have taken comparatively little flonr, most of the buying eing done by the local trade, and by outslde parties who ara regular customers for certain preferred brands. Thecourse of the market has —heen very steady, compared with wheat, being ect to very few minor fluctuations, THE MARKET WAS VERY DULL ng the flrst three months ot the year, the maoud being atmost entiroly local. In April »'r began to advance, fn sympathy with wheat, ealers wero quite active ona rising mar- ? ) highest thoo being the lour wacks lo)- = < the middleof April. Bhipplog extrns s0ld up to $8.50, the samo erade ruliog ot $5.50 ;ahout the close of navigation. In May the stocks of shipoing extras wore reduced to n low palnt by the large orders, and most of the flours exported wers 8ol chend, the current supply Tob being nearly equol ta the demand. The yoluma of transactions would bave been much Jargrer i1 the flour could have been supplied as {ust os wanted. ,this was the halcyon time of the trade. ~ Abedt the nfddle of May the mar- ket beaun ta droop, s orders fell off. In June and July the growing crop of wheat was found to promise the large yleld which has sinco been _axerienced, aund buyera held off a8 wmuch os possible for lower™ prices, purchealng only in tha **hand-to-mouth " style. Of courso prices ‘ecoded, but slowlv, as the offerings of sound Hlours were not large, country stocks baving seen well used up carller, In ‘the latt Syl e tter part of RAILROAD STRIER veeurred, aod wr!uus')% interrupted the forward wement of flour, The deluv Ju recetying from Westward was only about four days’ dura, hut theblock on Fouds Jesding lasted hree weexs, during which time very little snt forwan from thfs eltg, Afeer that wud from the East and from Europs une til the cloee of the year, vading excention to this rule was in the Lagred flours, (hich have been rather aken for exnort to the worthern purt of Afshi [xles. The willers of the * old coun- t up their product in bags orascks, the iz cheaper thau the barrel there, owing searcity of wood, Hence, the bag s a bomellke article, sud many consumers will ey more fur the uality of llour in the buz than in the ‘The quulity inost wauted ts & little below the average of soring ¢x All through April, Muy, and Juue thero wasa good deal of trouble with flour made from damp wheat; not bad enough to be graded as * un- sound,” but sutllelentty *off® to make it nccessary Lo sllow a discount of 2550 per brl. i is estimated that ot one time thera was as much 88 5,000 brls of this flour here, It Wwis also woted us sivgular that fu Octover, and the early part of November, some of the new whest which inspected 8s dry showed dumpnpess In grindtug.,” This was understood to be owing to the unusual slze of the berry, which tukes 3 longer tune to dry out thau a émall une. Outelde of this there have been nu complaluts, the new wheat belng exveptionally good {n guality. The fiest lous of winler wheat flour, of the new crap, arrived Dero from Nashvllle, 1 und St/ Louts, about July ¥ und sold st aboy 83.75 per brk,‘Tle vew Winters were beld very firaly for come thoe, as millers wrote to the wlle.t that the crop ylcld was not large; but the sanie frrades bave sluce receded 1o $U.5K47.00 Jor, Uil Mhipprs ook old of thew quite reely tn Aupust und deptember. Siues then the niew pareut foure buve been wors fu favor. They were shifpped bther fu large volume, un- dor thie ugtief that the stocks of old wers ubout exbalisted, sud were bought by wany parties » had/ htherto chicly tuken” winters, The ta are still zrowing In Lavor, a3 coustmers sily cotiarler Lavi 1o be cqual to the best o wud by sume they ure regarded seror. UL oreported tbat pot sy vue-quarter of sll the cuggifactured {n - Mfunesots the brocess. Bl 8 good ¢in St Louts 1 sowme low grades L by our ¢ty bekers ab $4.7G5.25, not enough of it being offercd to this ‘market. Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota flours have becn sent hera rather freely since the harvest- ing of thonew crop. Tho flour of Kansna dnes not mect with so much favor as its corn. The receipts from Nehraskn are not quite so Jarge as [n 1876, when they were first sent here, but Dakota flours have ®old fairly. Rye flour was in very active request. during the excitement of the cnrlg summer, belng much the cheavest articla on the market previous to the advance. It sald up to 89.235, when No. 3 rye mounted into the ninctics, and fell back to $3.23 in Novem- ber, A Our city mills have been run almost to their higheat capacity all through the year, and thelr product fnds rcmly aalo; but_comparatively 11t~ tlo of {t is e0ld on 'Change. It s sent direct to retailers and bakers nll over the Unlon; and a respectablo percentage even finds its way out Weat, its uniform quality commendiog it strong- 1y to the attontion of consumers, THE DECREASKD MOVEMENT of flour through this city, shown in_ the accom- panying tables, amd the’ general dniiness of the arhiolesale trade, except In the soring, s above ted, hias been niready rnruy sceounted for asdue to thecondition of the wheat market and to tho fact that our wholesale dealers could not supply the demand of Aprll and Mary, witlch filled up buyers antl reduced thelr orders after- wanls, Dut there ia no disgulsing the fact that this Is but a steo in the general decadenco that has marked the course of our wholesaie flour market for peveral years past. There is o grow- ing tendency on the part of consumers ththe Eastern States to send thelr ordera direct to the mills fn the country or city, and an equally de- cided tendenuy on the part of European opera- tors to buy wheat Instead of flour, ns, by their imp roved processes of manufacture, they aro en- abled to make zood flour by largely mixing our grain with wheatsof inferior quality crown In other eountries, The United States atill sends flour to Europe, but tadiminished quuntity, and no small proportion of it is furwarded direct from the mills,—somo of which, lowevor, 8 or- dered through the ngency of members of the Chicago Board of Trade, The price of flour In this market dunng the gut:c.\r hus avernged not far from $6.25 per rl: the average price of Western shipping ex- tras belog alinust preclacly £6.00 per bri, WIIEBAT. TIE WIUZAT MARKET has been lessactivo in the aggregate, thongh quite cxclted duzing a conslderable part of the year. Lack of atock on the old crop, and Iack of confidence fo the abllity to judge the sltua- tion correctly on the movesnent of the new crop, have been the chief causes of leascned trading; while 4 radical change in the volume of the vicld, and anxiety with reference to the fasue of the war in the East, bave made the market {rregutnr, giviug It a much wider range than In the three years next preceding, and prices have averaged highor than fo any otlicr year sinco the last panie. The movement of wheat through this city has been much less o volume than that of 1870, Tho receints of wheat, as reported by the Secre tary of the Board of I'rade, wero 14,350,638 bu, against 16,574,033 in 1876, The shipments ¥ere 15,000,123 bu, acalost 14,801,050 bu the pre- vlous year. Tho iInspection fnto store, as re- ported by the State authorities, was 83,570 car- Joads and 60,400 bu, which, At 350 bu to tho car, would equal 12,800,000 bu, against 42,024 cars, or 14,018,400 bu tho previous ycar, The differ- ence bietween the two sets of figures arisca from tha facts that the railrond retuens to the Board of Trade are not infaitible; the State Inspector dovs not return the number of bushels inspected Into atore; aud some erain fs billed through this city, and s supposed not to be fnspected Thiora at all. 1t was gencerally expected that THE WAR CLOUD which burst ever Turkey carly fu: the vear would cnormously stimulate our wheat trade and larzely Increase the volume handled here. But adverse clreumstances prevented thls. Thero was not so much to come forward [rom the Weat, andthe British Isles were more frocly supplied from other polnts in the flrst of tho year, the Russlan grown wheat being carrled overland to Baltle ports, and thenee shipped in immenso quantities, ‘The extent of tha latter ‘mavament may be zauged by the fact that the ex- worts from thoso porta were fully doubled, ‘while tho recelpts at Marscilles gluppllcn from the Black Sea) were correspondingly reduced one-half. A falr quantity of wheat was offered her for sale early in the year, and there was an active European demand for good wheat. Our crop of 1870 was goud in quality, but deficlent in quootity, and purchasers tor consutp- tlon were anxlous to buy, provided they could Lo sure of obtalning ft, ulthough the prices osked were . considerably abovn the receut average, Unfortunately there was a lot of poor wheat left over fromntlie crop of 1878 which buyers did not want for ex- {mrt and the inferfor stufll was kept here till ate In the spring, belnz turned over from ono month to another on contracts. As this poor wheat was ‘*regular,” shippers weru obliged to run the rigk of recelving it un the tender of reg- ular receipts, and the extent of tho risk was very much exazgeratod by partiea Interested in bearing prices. ~ Tho coilscquence was that a good wany orders went to other pointa. This ald wheat was. practically worked off by about the opening of navigation, but it operated as a bugbear til] far into June, as receipts wero still out for n few thousand bushcls of it, though noae was scrved out to shippers, By this time 1t began to be evident that there was comparns tively littto wheat loft to cume forward, and our receipts were very lpht for the mext two mooths, ‘Lhey had dwindled down frum 1,22 to 33 in _ April, and followlng _'blg prices only brought out GO3 in- May. ‘The ensulug month brought 480, wnd July 7U5, car-luadas, lenvo our big stock of about 3,500,000 bu at the close of Jauuary, of which nearly 2,000,000 bu was No, ¥, was roduced alnvat to zero by tho time the ncw crop was ready to move. " The gamgo ruls obtained clsewhere, so that tho vist ble supply svas oxtraordiuarily small; it was only 1,975,455 bu on the 2Sth ol July, our smallest stock belng 108,510 bu of atl grades, under date of Aug. 6. Thero was roou for & big crop, like that of Jast yeur, THR NEW WIHEAT praved to be of excellent quality, as well as sbundant yleld, and was sent forward very {freely, The extent of the movement during the flrat three months of tho crop-year is shown in the following tabla: 1877, 1873, 1874, Cars, ars, Cars. October. ....10,001 0,257 10, Buptembar.. 9,001 G 7,008 August ..... 4,404 4 0,181 Total,,, 23,620 15,148 21,428 28,004 In ber no less than 8,054 car-loads in- Oct spected Noa, 1 and 2, against 5,423 {n October, 1576, and 8,027 cars in October, 1873, In November aud Dccember bad westher, with lowcr prices, reduced the volume of fuetn- era’ dellveries, and prevented the movemnent of the now crop from waking ample amends for the puucity of the old. THE COUKIE OF TIB MARKET has heen jrregular, sud its charatter more arti- lictal than in” other ru:bulf‘um Farly lu the winter (8 year ago) a powerful comblination took bold on the lone side, the reason betog not so wuch anticipation of war in the Old World 03 the Lellct that there was a_short supply Europe a3 well as the United States, which was | veritied by the event, In Decewber, 1550, the warket ruled strong on this account, sod was further excited fn Jauuary by reports of no Taln in Callfornia, aud widespread fears of a fallure in the wheat-crop of the Pacltic Coast, ‘The renortsfrom that section wers mors reassur- lug fn Februaey, and towsrds the closs of that nonth the bull party found that the load was tou heavy. ‘Thew rumurs o sbort crops all over tho civilized world and empty storchouscs at Odessa jusplred confidence, causing another sceson of strength hero and in Milwaukee, duriug which the bulls decpened their hold. Duann the first three moutus ot the year the market wm{:‘ very oearly the same us the mazimuin prices of ‘the three precediog years; snd yet the war guestiou seemed to” bave little decidod fufiuence on quotativns. There were pleuty of war rumors, but the great ma- Jority of operators professcd Lo belleve that war would probably be averted by the zood ottices ot the Great Powers south of Hussia. lu April it becawe evident that thero would be a rupture, and quotations mounted rupidly upwards under 8 geuersd rushi L0 buy, Urders poured fo from quarters, sud oauy of thew wers left uus Biled, because the orders were (ar less volumiu- ous than the demaud, even at culisuced prices. By the tle thut wur was declared (April 24)the excitement wus st fever heat, shougl it was kuown that Russiau bulders wers marketing thelr wheat with such celerity a3 0 act us a dra ou the upward wovemeut of guotatlons io Eue rupe. ‘The irst nine wouths of the year 23 per ceut of the Euglish fwports were from Russla. During April the murket alvanced fully S per bu, snd touched the highest price ou vash 10ts the 5ul of next mouth. TUE DENOHALIZATION that ensued will loog s rewcmbered on bange. ‘Thers were lew fallures, but this was becauss tho majority of operaturs had pursued 8 oty couservative course thuu ususl--know- Ing the greater uucertabuty of the situation in Wheat than fu other warkets. But there wern Lyt wuntlng focldeats toat sbowed bow cons THE CHICAGD TRIBUNE: TUESDAY, JANUARY I, 1878-TW LV PAGES. dletely even shrewd men could be carried oft their ‘mental equillbrium by the excitement. We m-{ recall one Instance of an operator ¥ho had a clear profit of about £120,000 on his deals, Tnstead of aelling to willing buyers he dounled his hold, almost at the highest noteh, and within o few houra the receding tide had swept away every cent of his profits. The trade evencd uprapldly, by settlement or otherwlse; and then the wheal market was nearly deserted for Lwo or throe weeks, ns com- mirsfon men generally declined to take the risk of trading for partica outside, who could not bo reached on the inatant. What trading was done was mostly required to be protecied by very large margins. The wheat and corn markets changed plnces to_iive more room for trading in the Jatter: but the excitement gradually sub- sided, and then the two madea re-exchange. As prices declined, the wheat moved ont more treely, and our stocks were worked down ton low point. But just here favorable weather gave assurance of n more than average yield for the growing crop, whilo it was found that Great Britatn was drawing mare largely than usual on other sourcea for her supplics—the Rus- sian wheat finding an outlet on the Baltle. The market now became sharply P bearish, and worices rapldly declined, till in August wheat sold for Scptember delivery at Dliye, thouah the lowest price for the current month (Auruet) was abont. 00e, Hut in attajy- ing these very low figures, the market had been laruely oversold, and o rea:tion came when the shurts wanted to flil, The new wheat did not come forward so Irecly In August as was antl:e pated, and the same condition obtalned on the acaboard, From the 20th, which was the date ut the loweat auotations, the market reacted to &L.11 for eash wheat at the close of the month, In Scpteinber the shorts were caught oven worse. They had sold_freely for that month only to find the demand greater than the sup- ply, and wheat which sald at 8102 on the 4th ]n the expectation of biz recelpts, and a conse- quent bl break, waa settiel at 8118 at the close of the month. In October the experience wens repeated, the only variation belng i prices, tho market for that month closin:e at 1,14, with arather lange shortage to be filled during the last two or three dava. In Novembor there was o continued good demand for cash wheat up to the close of uavigation, which sustalned quotatiunson futiures, especially as bad weather kept down the volumo ol recelpts, In December, the wenther continued open, o that. the wheat did not come forsward so freely a4 ex- pectedt, and there was o muderate cxport de- mand, ns cut rates on through shipment per- mitted the grain to bo moved "at a profit. The market was vory nervous tho last maonth of the year, owing to uncertaiuty with regard to the war in Europe, mt tended slowly downwards till toward Christmns, when it was excited by fenrs of Enclish fnterventton in the ‘Turkish question; and weakened badly In the lnst week of the year, os peace prospects wera conshderad more flattering, und’ our crop was reported to b 35,000,000 by larger than any provious esti matct TRICES. ‘The following table shows the monthly range and the avernge price on Nu. 2 spring wheat throughout tho year: Jonth, Lowet. 5{.}:1{3‘ Inghest. drerage T S unt. Septemier.. October.. b 7 Year 1874.... . ‘The great trouble with the shorts all through the autumn was the Inct that they OVER-DISCOUNTED THE SITUATION, The crulr ‘was probably the largest ever ralsed fu the United Btates, It was estimnted by tho Agricutural Burcau at 425,000,000 but many well-iuformed men belleved that these figures aro much too Jarge; and that 315,000,000 bu would bo nearer tho truth, The quality Is also tho best ever experfenced, helng uniformiy cood, cxcept a few streaks in fowa and Wistonsln, while the best crops of former years have been of poor quality 'In soma scctions. But the country wna bare ot old wheat, and o great deal of the new was ubsorbed lu fillinz up fo the nor- mal condition besides supplying current con- sumption. ‘The Ynouln of indiana and Ohio, and some other winter-wheat sections, sold vast quagtities, to po delivered in September, In New York, Philadelphla, and Baltimore, and vesscls were chartored to earry a wood deal of it acruss the oceau. But the local millers in thosc 8tates had nlso sold four ahead, and wanted 8o much wheat that tho scllers were serfously hampered, and there was a gen- uine corner on the seaboard. Lorge quantities of spring wheat wero hought here by shippers in the same way, and when the tine came for de- livery they were obllzed to hu,r the eash wheat ut a premium, and scll nzafnst 1t for the next month, becuuse the short scllers had not Alled thelr coutracts. Much of this wheat was sold to arrive on the other side of the Atlantic, and tho quantity furwarded on buro speculation was not ncarly so great as was generally supposed. TIB CUARACTER OF OUR EXPORT TRADR In wheat has recontly undergone o msrked change, A few years ago Britisn buyers patron- jzed Now York “almost exclusively, but after wards favored the West directly with thelr orders, 8tlll more recently the merchants aud millers of Interfor towns bought in Liverpool or Glasgow, but now send thelr orders to Chicago, avoiding tho charges of tho middieman on ths seabourd. Chlcago thus recelves a much greater number of_orders than hcretofore,—soms of them wmall vnes,—n result which I prabably duo to a reduction in the cost of telegraphing seross the Atlantic, THR MINNESOTA ORADES have been in very good demnaud by shipperaand local milters, and constitute a very lare prupor- tlon of the recelpts from the new crop. T'he No, 118 In best supply and most wanted, gen- erally commanding o ‘premium of about 4¢ per bu over the opdiuary No. 1, though the latter is of superfor quality,” At the end of March the premium was about 1%. Many British mlllers prefer tho hard Minnesota wheat, as belnig bet- &ur for mixing with tho wheats they receive from other countrics, and somo tso it alone, making a superb quality of flour by ald of jm- proved processes now fnuse fu the United King- dom, ‘The prices realized hero for It ore such as to attract large 'l“m"““ hither, past Milwau- kee, and justity the serting apart of two eleva- tors bero for its rcception and storage, A chango wos made during tho past year In the designation from Northwestern to *pard," ‘which Is mora aceeptabls to the trade, 83 being less liablo to be misuaderstood. As wos the case proviously, the word *Minnesota’ s stamped on the reccipts for tho hard wheat coming from that State, and it {s kept scparate accordingly, so that the buyer is in no danzer of findlng it mixed with sn inferlor quality of wheat, . Tho trade in winter wheat has been very small,—s0 swall es to be insiguificant. Holders did not send cnough here to invite buyers to operute, though some efforts wers made on the advent of the new crop 1o creato s market for ths article which would attract it bither, THE CHOP, The !nllnllnfi are estimates, mostly made and collected by tho United Btates Agricultural Bureau, of the crop-yiell of wheat in several st years, with the snnual exports, and the Jome consumption, sced, aud waste, in miitions of bushels: Lonsump- Zrporis. fla':n'.” gave 5 i3 SREEEEELESORER S ke iB Tue United atates can soare 90,000,000 for ex- rt from the last crop, if no allowance be made or replenishment of reserve, and if the abuve estimate of yield bs not too high, of which there {s some doubt, Frobably 70,000,000 would be pearer (o our actusl surplus for export ou a «rop of 823,000,000 bu. The estimated con- sumptlon of the United Kingdom s 164,000,000 tu. snd her howe crop at 73,000,000 to 50,000,000 . [The latest advices from Washiogton sre to the uffect that the current wheat crop of the United States bs 360,000,000 bu, o 50,000,000 greater thau that of euy previous year, It these tigures be correct, we bave 110,000,000 bu fur export surplus attersupplying hiowe veeds.] The yeceivts of wheat, sud four reduced to wheat. u Chlcago, 83 compared with Lue whole crop of the couutry, were: ‘Tho average s very n ot The peceipts for the.crop-year 1676-'7 show, however, & wuch smaller peoportiontban this. The num- ber of car luads Inspected to store durlug the twelve months cadinz July 31 last, was 25,5, agaiost 34,600 the year previous, snd 61,470 for the corresponding time two vears proviously, TUR PROSVECT YOR THIS YRAR is generally thought 29 b favrable W bolders. ‘Tho wants of England tor the current crop ¥ oot have been estimated by competen ¢ suthority at 12,000,000 to 13,000,000 quarters, or 100,000 bit. A largo part of this has been already sun- plled, but our own surplua has been reduced In the &rocesn, rearcely une-hnlf now remalning in tirst hands, Californis was short some 2,000,0:0 b on her last vrop, aa compared with the pire- v) ous year: which mav be set aeainst a doubling un of the wheat exports (rom the Enst fndies, and a possible increnae from Anstealia. A erop of 39,000,000 b Is reported In Canadaz but Rusain will probably have less to spare than last year. though her ¢rop has recently been stated to b a yery larze one. Spain has an abundant vield, bt it will ncnrcelf muore than sunoly the defivit of Portugal: while Franco and somn Jeas im- portant_countries are behindhand, Added to this I8 that the fact the sunerior qualits of our wheat s already so well-known thas it has sc- cured a wide preference at the hands of English buyers, and with favorable freight contractsthis winter (fully expected) and low water-rates of transportation next apring, there reems to be nu good reason "hf holilers ahonld ot reallze ool prices for all they have to sparc—~war or no war I tho future. Of eourse the current of cvents I the East must be looked to as an fmportant fnfluence in actermining actial yuo- tatlons. The sto-ks in store In Gireat Britain and Iroland are reportod at 1,500,000 quarters, azafnst about 2,000,000 yuarters a vear agosand the stock afloat on tho ocean Dec, 13 waa 1,805~ 000 quarters agalnst 21.4uqlmu quarters at the beginning of the year This gives o present deilefency of about 12,259,000 bu, auded towhien our visitle supply on this continent s supposed to bo nearly 1,000,000 less than twelve months ago. . —— CORN. TRE COURSE OF THD CONN MARRET has been zewggetl T stoady one, outside of the fluctuations due to war newe, Frices have averaged nearly the same ns the previous year, thouuh the range was muehgreater, being 20%c in 1877, agalnst 10%c In 1870, The volume of the movewent %as aleo very laree, though it shows & decreaso of more than 2,000,000 bu from that of 1874, which was much greater than anf in the previous history of the trade—not cven excepting 1872 The receipts were 46,300, 473 by, against 43,668,640 bu In 1876, and the shipments were 40,332,705 by, against 45,620, 035 bu for the year fmtnediately preceding, “The unusual movement of the past two years fs due to the facts of big crops, low lako frelghts, and an increasing consumption in the East and in Europe,—the last wamed being partially o consequent of the otlier two, Our receipts the past yeur would have been even greater but that the crop of 1876, in tho ncighborhood of Chieago, was pour in yield, and most of our corn was drawn from Towa, Nebraska, aud Kau- sas, the supplies of Eoutheastern [ilinols gofnz directly East. ‘Tho corn was in good conditlon, and came forward so freely durlng the winter months that the supply excceded the demand for rail shipment, and the market was rather weak, in spitc of the uncertainty In regard to the war. With the opening ot naviation an active demand sprang up, which wes continued through thesummer, Low rates of lake freizhts, and n reduction of tolls on the Erfs Canal,made transpertation cheap, and attracted bither large quuntities of corn which would otlierwise lave gone around us by cut-off roads to the seaboard, as the frefeht tates on the cut-ofl lites were not so relatively low as previousiy. The lake movement Was active, and lake and rall frelents were fu demand for the mpnl[y of Interior points at the East, as the New Eungland States werd better able to take coru, aod con- sitmed tnore, owing to a_partlal resival of man- ufacturing inaustries. Our receipts of corn In the carly summer were somewhat less than they would have been but for fears that TIR XEW CROP would be a partial fatturc. It was widely be- Hoved that much of the corn was planted so late, aud the planting was followed by auch caol weather, that the crop would not mature before overtaken by the frosts of autumn, This, with the probability that the supply of Danub- fan corn to Western Europe would fall short the coming year, on account of the interraption to -flarlcul;uml onerations fu European Turkey, made & gaod mada holders carcless nbout ecll- ing, cspeclally as the corn of the crop of 137 was well adapted to storiug. But the aplendld weather of August and September removed all fears as to our own crop, and thon farmers sold more freely, tyelr dehveries belog limited only by the carrying capatities of the railronds, which had been somewiiat reduced by the strike, iy the beglnning of November thy old corn in INinpls had been prc"r well eleaned up, but fowa and Neoraska still had cornto send to murket, and it came forward about a4 fast as wanted 1o November, keeplog the mar- ket steady, In October thero was a decided falling off in the demand, as Eastern buyers were disposed to hold back for the advent of the now cortt, and much of the ofd corn purchascd was for foreizn cxport. But the weathior was molst, making the corn toe damp for shelling, besides spolting the roads In many ports of the country, and in the first part of Novenber East- orn buyers agaln sent their orders hero for ald corn, a8 thelr stocks wera well reduced, and Inke freizhits continuo to rule low. W eathier condt- tlons continued poor all through the manth, so that new corn camne forward slowly, and an ex- tenslve corner wus ongineered succeaafuily, ) vnmlwrclnnln!: at 50, About 000,000 but was de- faulted, but it was all settled up at 482 alter- wards, ‘The market ruled tame In December, the new corn belng heavy, though not in large supply. The market wan very weak at the end of rlw month, as many parties had ex- pocted another corner, and helil corn against it, which they wero abliged to sell at a consldera- ble loes as the year drew to a close. TRICHS. The following table shows the monthly range and the average price on No. 3 corn throughout Tho year 1874 ‘The year I87..... THE BRITISI PEMAND has been good nearly throughois, The dectara- tion of war eurly fn'the year stilened prices un the other side of the Atlantic, and Induced merous orders for uur corn, but scarc many as was expected. Prices here advanced rupidly, but the bears became hinpressed in May withtheconviction that carn was agood sale, and under perslstent hammnering It went down, the British markets declinlug fu sympathy, while many buyers held off fur still lower l‘-.:uru-. ‘The partlal failure of the supply ot Danutlan corn Increased the demand on Suierica for feed, and tha graln merchants of England and Ire- land took largely of our lower grades of barloy, sswellas of cora. The bears hurs clahine that prices would declino us soon as the Ru sians had crossed the Danube, 88 that river would then be opened, aml they again sold short way up {uto the miilions, . it nGw secins rubatile that but fur thia the peoploof the nited Kingdom would have paid 83 shillings per quarter for nearly or (Lulle us much vorn as they huve siuce taken at 24 shilling to 29 and B pence, Thew wereall the morv willing to tako It a8 thocorn was uniformly in good coudition for sbipment, and the exneriences of furmer years becaine simply matters of. history. We hud 1o hot corn here; ‘wnd reports of corn arclving “ warm " ot the end of a long journey were very rare, We haye nover had a more fa- vorable year for handling and forwarding with- out complaint from the men to whom the cora waaconsigued for distribution 10 consumers. THE NEW CORN Is expected to come forward very freely this winter, i( the weatner permit, It s in firat- cluss shape for handlfug, excopt that some of it bas been impaired by """‘&',‘“" and our pres- eut rules permlt corn to graded s No. 3 whenever It is dry cnough, without relerence to date. Couuntry bolders have been very anxious to sell already, aud sales have been wude for May delivery at thau quotations for the current month, without fear of a corner, which 18 sumething unusual in the bistory of the trade. Tho anxicty to sell hay been cubanced by & muarked disinclination owthe part of capltallsts {1 the trade Lo Juvest .u gribbing corn this win- ter. The chilel reason (or thls appears to be the fact' that wanv of them came uear betng swainped Jast Muy, and they feared that the ex- perience mav be repeated. 16 was no light thing o be callvd upou to deposit ¢ per bu wmargiu for the Lithlul perlormauce ot a coutract to deliver several huadred thourand bushiels of corn beld in crib Ju the country, though ft had been sold ut 8 g profil on the urlglual cost, with futerest aud transportation. Yet this is what uol a few had to do duriug the war excite- went of last l‘) ugs und oue experlence of the Kind 3 felt ty be coourh. Some coru {3 belug @lubed, but It is belieyed that the volume thus baudled this winter will b small s cowpared with previous years; aud it ia thought probable thut more than usual will be marketed early in cousequence. It bas been kept back uitherto by th fact of unusually mild weatber in tho latier E." of the year. A good deal of curu is grown ¥ FRters Who s sUXlous 10 et 14 80 wasket ns #oon as possibic and sell It for what it will Lring, For this renson we gencrally have an nbundant supply of cora on the market chrly in the year. YIELD OF FAST YEARS, The following table gives the eatimated corn feld of the United States in scveral past years. The returns for 1802 to 1304, Inclusive, cmbrace only the loval States. Also the total exports from alf United States ports aince 1 figures represent milliona of bushels: Coop. Kem ¥ear, crop. {1 T i, 1 om One cstimate of last year's corn crop places 1t ak 1,450,000,000 b, ‘The exports of the past year are cstimated, “The corn exported to Europo in the shape of hogs and whisky would foot up another 60,000,- CU0 b for last year. It 1s worthy of remark that the crop of I1l- nols §s esthinated at 331,003,603 b, against 203,- 000,000 hu fn 1870: which wogurs well for 8 further fucrease during the coming year tn the volume of corn handicd in this elty, THB CORX-OROWING ANEA of the United States 18 unmense. Corn is now cultivated successfully in. nearly cvcrwart of a tract of country not far from 1,000 miles square. That area bids fair to bo uvon more e: tensvely devoted to corn culture, ny entt ralsing {n the Western States s fonnd to be un- profitable, and the peaple of the Old “World are Just beginning to find out the valuo of corn, While its constmptlon in the Wea for feeding may casily be donbled witliout producing a glut of hog-meat. Corn will be mora than Riog tn the West; its pruper function Is that of Ew- eror, . OATS. TR ARKKT FOR OATS exhibits an fmprovement, though the movement throueh the city was only slightly larger in vol- une, and the nverage of prices very nearly that of the preceding year, Tho recefpts were 13,432,005 bu, agalnst 13,030,121 bu in 1876: and the shipments were 12,721,435 bu, agalnst 11,271,642 bu the preceding year, The chief dif- ference Is due to tho superior quality of the oats of the newcrop, which permita the inspece tlon of a mueh larger percentuge futo the higher gradces than was possible with the crop next pre- ceding. The coursc of the market has been compara- tively frregular, the range—24c—being three times ns great as In 1870, The chief reasons for this were the Eastern war in the fiest hal€ of the year,and an abundant crop, mueh of which wus matketed, in the autumn. There have been no corners In uats, though cash lots commanded a rather wide premium at times, There was little temptation to run o corner in oats on the old crop, and no opportunity for dolng so since the now crop began to move, The auality of the crop of 1870 was so poor that the oats were largely avolded by consume ers,—they substituted corn for them n feeding to a very larze extent,—and tho export: move- ment to Earope, whicih had previously Leona tree one, fell off to zero. They were little bet- ter than husks, and the English people did not want them ot any price, Oats that welghed only 25@26 1bs to the measurced bushel were graded ns No. 2, and yet the proportion of low grasles was excessive, Ilence tho year opened with n comparatlve glut ol poor oats on the seaboard, and the movement iere was a slow ont uzh prices were sustalued by the war exvitement, In sympathy with wheat” and corm, In May the acewmualations had been partly worked off, and the murket advanced to 462 on the 4th of that montl, which waa the hishest oint of the year. Tho market then dectined Frrugulnrlr oft ruther light recelpts, and went down rathier rapldly as it became known that 4 TIHE NEW CROM waa a large one. It touched 23¢ for the month on the 20th ol ~Auzust, which was also the date of the lowest wheat uotation, tho subsequent averaze being not far romn 241¢e on No. 2 with o premium of 1 on Nov2 ‘winle, and u “discount of Su3bsc on re- Jocted, ‘The prica per pound was so very low, tompared with wheat and corn, that it was cx- pected there would be a very liberal export movement. In_this, however, thero wasa ais- apnointment. Tho_ Euatern States took hold rather freely, and New York stocked ur pretiy well befora th closo of navigation, while Cava- lan willers took a good deals 'The exportfio Europe ruled tame, chlelly leeause ovean chh!}\tu on oats were nearly the same perbu as on wheat, the room oceupied belng the same in both cases, Tuero has, however, been a good demand for our oatmeal ln Europe, and the direct exports of this breadstul® trom Clicago has formed o new featurs in _ths trude during Jast outumn, The United Kiuedom has also taken wueal from oats which were ground in Conadlan mills. The fariners marketed tho now oats rather freely, but our stocks have kept down to 8 rather o polut, under a frev ship- ping movewment, which has, lowever, been con- ducted by our shippers ata much icss proflt thon usual. PRICES. Tho following table shows the monthly ranga and the averagze prico on No. 3 oats throuthout Lowest, Highest, Averane. £33 S T S s X1 ) a4 28y TIIE CROP. . of the United Btates for scveral ‘The cro| P- as follows: past years TN PHOSIECTS for the market during tho ucxt seven months are good, a8 thu superior quallty of the oats strongly commends them to consumers; and dealers louk 10 aco the crop well cleaned up, though it was o large oue, by the tima of tho pext harvest, RYE, THE MARKRT POR RYN has been rather Irregular, owing to a great dit- ference fn the detnand. It was at first heavy, and then excited on the old crop, and steadier on the new. The volume haudled exhibits o materlal Increase over that of tho preceding year, and {s more than double that of 1575, Tho recelpts were 1,740,530 bu against 1,447,017 bu in 1870; and the shipmeuts were 1,577,172 bu, against 1,433,070 bu the year preceding. ‘The quality of the old crop was only fair, the berry scarcely filllug out; while tha supply was rather large. Hence the market drogyed during the first three months, the local trade being very small, while exporters only bought sparingly; and stocks sccumulated in consequence, la April the speculators took hold of the market under the war excitemcnt, buyiug for future, aud the price for Jung delivery advanced to dc. The war fever cooled on rye jn about two or three days, und tho market declined rapldly. At 65c exporters commenced to buy; snd they had taken about all the old stock by the time the mmarket touched 62 in July, About the 20th of that month thenew rye began to arrive, opening at 62c; snd the good quality Invited some ratber heavy purchases for August delivery; but tne assur- snce of & good crop, nud sympathy with the du- clioe {n wheut, caused u dreak, and the specu- lators sold out, mostiy st a heavy toss. ‘Th trading for future aggregated about 1,200,000 bu, Since then there has been comparatively Iitle duing in futures, as foriner losses muds buyers wary; but > TUE YUIPPING DEMJND has becn alwost uulformly good. A great deal went to New York, chletly for export to Gernauy, thougn sows was uicn by France, aud u; little by other forvigu countriu Four curgoes went direct to Quebee for export, four wtlicrs were takeo ou Canadisn account; ang two went to Butfalo for sutesior distribution, Germany has been a good customer, her own rye crop belug shon, wiile the deficlency was Lut partfally supplied by shipments from Balue borts, Our exports ol rye tu Gerwany are not far frow twice us large s last year, Tuc home witipg trade bas 2la0 been good, Lisviog {n- creascd uearly oue-tlird; the superior quslity of the laat crop fnvitiug s fuxu cousumption. PRICES. The follewlug table shows the wonthly range an | the average price of No. 8 rye throughout tho year: Jionth. Lowest. Ifighest. Average. dannary.....e., 0 it 71.685 Febrnary... a0 “0i3 March. 10 [ April,. A 0314 May. 70 n Jine, n 70 July [ Augn: o ¥ o Octo [ L] r. oot The year,. [ T year 1R30.. "t £y ‘e e 1.18 L0t The following arc estimates of ‘the rye eroj of the Uplted ¥tatea In milllons of bushels: THE NEW CROP Ia of very superlor quality, better than m any former year since 1800, and the vicld {s also large. As aconsequence the difference between the price of our ryc, and that knowu as New York State, has averaged only B@ie, whila {t was about 10¢ on the previois croj he new rye las been marketed very freely, snd met with such n gcod demaud” that dealers feel themsclses warranted in expecting an active fn- gulry ntll. fair prives for what has “yet to comu orward, BARLEY. TAE DANLEY MARKET has ruled more steady the past year than might linve been expected from tho excitement of fts surroundings, the range of pricea having been only 502, agalust 46c in 1870, Tne movement has been larger, the receipts belng 6,031,200 bu., und the shipments 4,391,85% bu. The corre- sponding quantities for the previous year were 4,710,800 bu revelved, and 2,637,052 bu shipped. "Phe volume handled was much greater than In 1875, . The market dragged badly during the first three months, The old crop was very poor in quality, aud about all the good barley had heen marketed by the end of 1878, The maltsters avolded our Western graln, using Canada bare- Jey in its stcad to a very large extent. Tho consernence was that stocks acenmuiated hero during the winter, belng mastly held on specu- latlon . Ly parties who hopel to realize higher prices by walting, Our inurket was hammered by ‘the hears, thelr chiel dependence belng the fact that one elevator contained a rather large ot of what waa belleved to be very Inferlor No, 8, but which wus dellverable on contracts for “regular. They oversold themselves. Towards Avril most of the Canadian barley had been consuined, and there was a good Western detnand for our No. 2, It was shipped frecly to 8t, Louis; and even to Iowa, where they had plenty of low gendes, but very little Ot for malting. As a consoquence, our stocks were much reduced, as thoy had gained littls by re- celpts up to tho close of March. By the 1at of May our stock of No. 2 was only 63,020 bu, of which some 84,000 bu were in tho one ele. vator referred to above. This tio longs resolved to take care of, and pay themscelves by better prizes on tho reat. Under the result- ing squeeze the quotation was run up to 85@ G0¢ at the close of April, 85 belng the general scttling price, The next month prices wey pretty well sustalned, In sasmpathy with other eraln, during the war exzitement; but the mar- ket suon began to drag, nud seitled down ton nomiual quotationof BOES5: for old Nu.2 in the miudlo of Junc. At this polnt the market for new, for September delivery, onencd atabont 0u14¢, but was very uncertain 1or several weeks, n3 dealers were unsvtticd fn revard to the new fnspection, 1t was desired to do away with the long-existing evil of widely ditferent qualit the same nowminal grade fu diferent houses; a to this end It was proposcd that all the barley should be QIADED BY ONE INSPLCTOR. This was ot Inst azreed to by the Rallrond and Warclhouse Commissioners, and tho triule was then conducted on n more even basts, us operate ors felt much better satistled in regard to the auality of the articlo they wero dealing in. The change took cffect with the bezmning of Sep- tembers aml the plan was exvected to work well. It wos {utercupted in the autumn, by the pressurs of heavy recelpts, which inade some rallroad ofliclals unwiillug to keep their cars on track walting for the une man tu- spector to cutme - round, ‘The diversion did not lust long enough to cause serfous inequallty In the bariey n the different houses, but it was long enough to dissatisfy some dealers, and it i nllegzed that the Inepection hos not been so unltorin_since then as it mnlfm' be; and some brewers and maltsters bave ediered to their old plan of busing by sample, which tends to lower the quality of the regular grado by taking out tho best of the grain. But, with ‘all this, our harley murkct {s on n better basts than ever be- fure chiclly on account of the mare even quality of the grain, and buyera have more coufidency than they used to have in the quallty ot tho article purchased. Wo beliove there I8 no sul- phurinzg of barloy In this market, and cven tho ocal cleanura are unpopular; but some opere ators In Milwaukee have taken ourlower grades, sometlmes at the rate of several car-loads dally, shipped them to thateity, and eleancd the crain, then mixed It with zood Lariey, and sent tho whole here to be Inspeeted as No, 3, Somo parties In the trade coniplained bitterly of this a fow weeks ago. THE QUALITY OF THE NEW CROP fs very supcrior. with an enormous yleld, It was harvested fn ine wenther, whichis the inak- Ing of burley ; mul is widcly dought after. Bov- eral of our brewers uro now using it exclusively, who used Canada barley aitozethier o year ago. As a consequedee, Canada barley cuts butapoor tlzuro hero now. A few curgoes were recelved Just betore tho cloge of navigation, and most of it graded a3 No. 1, but v didnot meet withnuch favor, Tho duty of 15 cents in zold per bu was au effcetunl drawback to Its extenslve use, when our consumers were 80 el sattstied with the Western-crown orticle. ‘The total receipts from Cauada by lake were 131,811 bu, Wo note, too, that there has been no Californla Larloy here of the last vrop, We have too much here to tempt the mvestment in the cost of overland transpor- tation ; und California Is not troubled with such 2 lum]u» 2% {n some former yoars, rhICcEy, The followlng table shuwa the monthly ranga and the pverage prics of No, 3 barley thirouga. out the year; Lowast. INghest. Averans. senBBls UTHE G300 Wi s G608 ) The'y The year 1475 The year 1674 e year 1874, ‘The followln; crop of the Lushels: aro catlinates of the barley mited States, fu willons of Cron,) Year, 27 (1475, 1470 1871, 412477, e geeeii With theabuve noted chango fu the inspection, a new grade, known as * Extra No, 3, was in- troduced, intended to be s medium between the orainary grades of No. 3and No. 3, The trad- ng in this grade as » regulur® has been mate- rially checked by the fact that a great deat of t has been taken from track, including oearly all thu best sanples, Jeaviug that which was passed juto store ui regulur to be regarded as little better thau the ordinary No, 8. OUR LOW-GHADE BARLEY has been taken very freply for exoort to (reat Britaiu. The English peoplo use it for feed, and the Scotch for makiug whisky, A grest deal ol it has been forwarded vin Kingston and Portland, aud the reported movement **from the scaboard " fails 30 show the extent ot the movement, because the Montreul firures are furnished by & close corpuration, which reports or not g suits the vonvenlence of certain par- ties. There has also been u cood demand frum the United Kingdom for malting samples; but W canuol supply thess fu close cowpetition with Canada, which is reported to have barvest: ed @ crop of some 10,000,000 bu. No. 3 barley sold as low as 27¢ in February, and at c ju May. It bas ruled rels- tively dnfiurlux the lalter part of the year Lelng 8 €oud request. Tho price lu December was ubout 3012400 It 1s really superior w the Nu. 4 ot some former scasous. It s ctated by partivs ou the outside that must of the good barley in Minnesota and Wis- consin lius Leen already marketed, aud they aue tipute irmuess fu the remwinder of the trow, with 8 good dewand lu proportion tothe supoly. BREADSTUFFS8 MOVEMENT, RECEBIPTS. ‘The following wers tho yeceipts of bresd- atuis fu tuls civy durlng the pass year, Sour be- Ing reduced to its equivalent in wheat in the footings: Flour, bris, .. 2, Wiiiso o r’r“znim , BHIA, .. 2,7 2,035, Wheat, bu.,.14,350,658 10,574,058 R 40,000,473 48,008,010 3,433,005 13,000, 121 1,740,010 1,447, M7 5,031,200 4,716,300 Totals,, ,01,600,010 07,735,482 STIPMENTS. The following were the corresponding ship- ments: 1877, 1878, 1875, Flour, brla,,, 2,008,724 2,014,838 9,285,110 Wheat, bu,..15,0, 123 21, 184,040 14,301,150 21, 4 043 20,443, 88 Corn, ‘bu... 40,53 73 (X 1 LTI AN Itye, hu 1,537 Harloy, 241,800 CITT CONSUMPTION, During the year thero was withdrawn from atore for city consumption 1,005,710 bu wheat, 718,301 bu corn, 325,934 bu onts, 220,330 bu rye, and 723,810 bu barley. Total, 8,090,238 bu, To this should be added nearly as tnuch more taken from track, and recelyed In wagons, making some 0,000,000 bu of grain of all kiuds consumed In the clty, The differenco between the recolpts and shipments of flour (130,439 bris) added to the 203,000 brla manufactured I the clty, and making allowance for the altered volume of atocks fn stora at the close, gives about 433,033 brls flour ns the city consumption. HREADATUPFA IN STORE. The following wera the quantitics reported as in store at the slose of the two vreceding years, and the last statement made fn 1877 Flonz, bela, Wheat, by, Corn, bn, | Oty bu . Itye, bu, . Barley, bu .. 72,300,101 24 00,251 150,400 848,54k 1,136,474 GIAIN REGISTERED, ‘Tha following aro the foutiugs of the report of the, Stato Neglatrar of Grain forthe yuar ending Oct. 81: \Wheat, bu Corn, bu tata, L, Itye. b, Uarley, b Total, bu, 00,570,007 04, The nbove recelpts were by rail, in cars, 1n addigjon there weru recelved tho of 915 canal-bots and 13 jake vessels. T8, 04 1H0, 108 Jescelred, 12,163,047 1 SO8,70 Tno suipments were thus distributed, n buahels: In rensel, o, 7o toams 2o 4 ) Nyo... niney Totals . ..05 370,004 Totals, 187048, 180,410 0, T, 012 7,857,080 3, GRAIN INBPECTION. ‘The State Inspectioon Devartment furnishes tha following table of {nspection into stare for 508, 387 Wapal, orn. | Our, | 16 1,28 R, T e Tiartey . otite. a10] el 1f ! The raceinte by canal for the Sear wero s follows: heat, g a0 but curi, ot Bty ke, Sy o Thby barleg, 00, Towl. & o514 b D Jako were Tiviiear, S7.00 00 Dy LIVE 8TOCK. ¥ TUT ONCE IEYORE since the Unlon Stock-Yards were opened to busineas—a period of twelve years—havoe we had to note a decline In our aggregate receipts of iive stock. Had the decreasebeen very pronounced, or had not the previous year's receipts shown a large increnso over any former year, the de- ficlency might justly give risuto asuspicion that our live-stock trade had nlready reached its zenith, and had now begun to sllp away; but following as it docs on tho heels of a seasnn duriyg wnich the arrivals reachied the enormous total of 5,659,005 head, and exceeding a8 they have by 1,123,205 liead the reccipts of any year prior to 1873, the cxhibit furnished in tho tables publishod below gives mnple canse for gratulation, Nover before have the rival markets of St Louls and Kansas City put forth auch strenuous offorts to secure the stock which woull most uaturally scck a market at those polnts, and to divert to themsclyes nuch ot that upon which Chicago as a more divect clalm. Thelr offorts In that direction were ably sccond- ed by the rallroads In the matter of frelzht als- crhininations, all of which were tothe disadvan- tage of Chicazo, Bo far as cattle are concerned, tho folling off In the arrivals {s partlally, I not chietly, sccottnted for by thu rapld prowth of tha busincss of slaughtering in the cxtreme West durlng the past twelve months, aud sending the beel to market fu o drossed state. If tothe receipts on foot ho arldded thy number of carcassa received, It will he found that most of the dellelt shown in the accompa- nying tables Is tous made good, That Culeato's live-stock tradu during the past twelve months hns uot” exhibited an Increase commensurata with the development in the West of tha live- stock interest i3 In no small degreo attributable to the fliiberal polley of the Unlon Btock-Yard and Transit Company In the matter of I charges, An examinatfon of the Compan bouks will verlfy thu statement that for every pound of hay fed out during the past, year the awner of the stock was churged at the rate of $30.00 per ton, and that at no time durine tho year wero their charces for corn less - than $1.00 Pur bu, Now, the average wrice of hay - this market for the menson of 1877 was §3 l»cr ton, and of No. 2 corn, 443{c jier bu, while ho lower grades aro bolleved (o bo_served out 1o atock. the Hight of the above Iacts, it will not bo guestioncd that the feed charges of the Btock-Yurd Company ars out of all reason, and, furthermore, oxtortfonate. fow long, moy we be permitted to ask, ducs tho managcment sup- pose that the trade will submit to thess cxas- tionsl ¥Iis true that a largs percentage of the surplus stock of the West must pass throuuk Chicugo on Its way to the consuming markete of the East, but how lonz before_the remainder 18 driven ta scek somo other outlet o tho scar board] If these exorbltant charges are lo bs crsisted in,it doea not requiro the wisdon of a E’xlnmun to docide to a mathematival cortainty just how Jong It will be ero Chicwgo's boasted supremacy us tho “live-stock centre of tho world” will _ have become a8 thiug of tho past. With 8t. Louls and Kansas Clty strolniug cvery nerve to attract the trade thithur, It wonld scein to be the part of wiadom for the Unlon 8t tnanagement 10 adopt o more liberal system than now in vorue both as regards fecd charges and yandage. The seasoh waa NOT A PROSPRROUS ONB cither to tho feeder or shipper, Furall descrip- tions of stock prices averazed lower than for any year since before the War of the Rebellion, and Tor every fortunce wado a dozen were jm- palred. In values of CATTLE the fuctuations wers neither pumerous nor violent, but, excepting the montha of May and June, durlu which perlod prices sharply ad- vanced, the tendency of the market was almost cuuunuousI( un‘:nw:u-d, and during the clml;!:fi o X S inontlis _ of year avi er 100 lbs Jower than .in February. es_opeped at $3.0625.50, advauced to .23@0.00 {o February, aod then gradumly cased off until the eund of April, when they stood at $3.00@5.05, During May and June the market reacted, advancing to $3.50 24.73, whis y were the highest prices of the year. In i they azain took tie back track, and the Wi~ ward movement did ot stop_until §2.5023.00 waa peached, in November. During Dfecember tho market slightly—and only partialfy—; ered, the closlnz quotations boluz afi‘ for poor to extra qualitics. Nutwithsbane the low price of corn aud the unusual cxce}lence of the pasturaze, it §s a fact that the avd ?u.\lnv of the receipts was not up o tha: ormer years, That wus the outgrowth of § thy cbanged character of the demand. Leaving] odt the gxport trade,—which, by the by, cut uf not unidhportant tuure ju tte year's busluess,—Uhere was cuinparatively little call for chuice anfl ex. tra beeves. Toe great ery bas bedw for luw aud medium-priced cattle, and at certain pilifods of the season a difference of oot mum[bau o 3¢ per b exlsted between the selling gfrice of what are vlassed us *“uediun” eradies and “ehojce grades. ‘That wus duriugza bl fu the export movemeud. But all the vear{through fair to medlum quatitics commanded riclatively the best piices, while durivg @ portidu of the scnson choice aud extra qualities werel unsala- ble at any fair value. Among the Lis§ to suc- cumb 10 the pressusg of the times wede prives of beel cattle. During the twu-aud-a-baif ‘un immediately followiog the panic there was ut o sliizht dm‘n:d.\llun in values, but 'the past eluhiteen aonths bave witnrsacd & ghrinkage of e e -, E——