15 AUGUST 1885, Page 3

We greatly regret to see that the long drought is

likely to blight the hopes which bad been entertained as to the yield of the present harvest. Some of the returns show that every- thing will be scarcer this year than last, except hay,—and even that is not so good, according to some authorities, as in 1882 ; while in wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, beans, and peas, the estimate is that there will be a decided diminution. There is, however, some hope .that the prices fetched by the present crops will be decidedly in advance of those fetched last year.