Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, August 1899Various
General
Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, August 1899
Various
American periodicals
"I have recd. your letter, respecting the two acceptances. I had thought
they were both provided for. As the Boat goes to-morrow, and as I
returned to London only last evening, I may not be able to arrange so
as to write by this opportunity; but by the _very next_, I will cause
you to hear from me. We have been about six weeks, having run over much
of England, & something of Scotland. Of course we could stay but little
time in any one place, nor were we able to see much below the surface
of things. But the agriculture, and the general of things, in England &
Scotland, I have looked at, pretty attentively. Taken together, England
exhibits a high wrought, exact, elaborate system of art & industry. Every
productive power is carried to the utmost extent of skill, & maintained
in the most unceasing activity. Constant attention & close calculation
pervade everything. Rent is high, but prices of produce are high also.
About thirty shillings, Sterling, say seven dollars, or thereabouts, may
be regarded, perhaps, as near the average rent of good land in England.
In some parts, it is much higher, say ten dollars, or, rent & tithes
together, perhaps fifteen. The land is vastly productive, & prices are
high. A gentleman told me yesterday that he had sold, some weeks ago, his
wheat crop, at eleven pounds Sterling, pr acre, standing, & his oat crop
for eight. This will shew you the aggregate of product & price. Forty
bushels of wheat, & fifty or even sixty of oats, are not an uncommon
yield to the acre. The land is naturally good, & is made the subject of
the most careful & skilful cultivation. In the course of forty years,
the _turnip_ has vastly enriched England. It feeds millions of sheep,
whose wool & flesh command high prices, & the feeding of which in the
field, during the winter, say ten sheep to the acre, enriches the land,
for the succeeding crop of wheat. Then, too, lime is used extensively,
& every bone ground up, for bone dust, which is found a most powerful
manure. And when the lands require it, a complete system of underground
draining is practised, especially in Scotland, which produces the best
effects. Agricultural labor is not more than half as dear in England,
as in the U. S.
"(I shall add a P.S. if I learn anything before this P. M. of this matter
of the U. S. Bank & Hottinguer.
"(4 P. M. Mr. Jaudon has been to Paris. Rothschilds have accepted the
Bills of the Bk. U. S. for the honor of the Bank. It is thought the Bank
may have drawn, under an understanding with Hottinguer's agt. in U. S.
of which his principals were not seasonably advised. It is an unlucky
affair, at least, & will much prejudice American interests and credits
here."
D. WEBSTER.
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