PROSPECTS OF THE FARMERS.
MORNING Jourtsar—Within the last few days we have met with several gen- tlemen, from various parts of the country, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and are grieved to say that the prevalent opinion from all quarters is, that, even should the weather now change, we cannot expect above two-thirds of an average crop. The wheat, which is in many parts already in ear, is short and unhealthy, espe- cially in those soils where clay abounds; and the rye in general may he consi- dered a complete failure. Oats have already advanced in price, in consequence of the unfavourable state of the weather; and the prospect of the hay harvest is most discouraging, the swathe not promising to average above half a ton per acre, This is not the statement of an alarmist, but the result of actual observation, coin. bined with the prevalent opinion of the majority of the agriculturists throughout the country ; and we can confidently state, that by next Michaelmas a great num- ber of farms will be thrown upon the hands of the landlords. The distress which must ensue, from this failure in the produce of the soil, is rendered more appallieg by the well-known fact, that not one in ten of the farmers have been able, by their hard and enduring labours, to save a trifle against the day of trouble. The same free-trade system which has reduced the manufacturer to starvation, and disabled him from purchasing the productions of the agriculturist—the same free- trade system which is slowly but surely working the destruction of the colonies— the same free-trade system which plunges the wool-grower in distress, indirectly paralyzes the exertions of the cultivator of the soil, and unnerves the great body of the British public, who depend on manual labour or indigenous productions l'ae the bread to sustain a miserable existence.
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