bushels.

Last year our importations from Indiana were large, but since the new
crop came in, that State has been shipping largely toward the Ohio
river, and we get comparatively little. The immense distilleries of
Cincinnati consume a very large quantity of corn annually, and Indiana
is beginning to find a good market in that quarter. The demand for
Michigan corn is always active on account of its excellent milling
qualities, and on this account it generally sells from wagons as high,
or a shade higher than the outside figure for Western corn from store.
The corn crop of Illinois has been much injured by the frosts of June
and July, and on this account the receipts in Chicago up to this date
have been much lighter than usual. The European potato crop has been
greatly damaged by rot, and it is probable that a large export of corn
will take place from this country in order to supply a deficiency
occasioned by this failure. It is said that several New York
capitalists have gone west and purchased corn and provisions, storing
them up until next spring, anticipating at that time a considerable
advance in price. The generality of farmers have sorted their corn
carefully this year and used up the unripe and inferior part for
feeding hogs and cattle: there is a large quantity of very good corn
in the country, which will no doubt command a good price in the
spring.

Indian corn is one of the staple productions of Michigan, and can be
raised with success in any suitable soil in the lower peninsula.
According to the statistics of 1850 this State produced nearly
6,000,000 of bushels that year. It is probable that the census of the
present year will show a vast increase in the amount. In 1850 the
value of this crop in all the States amounted to nearly $300,000,000,
being about equal to the united values of the wheat, hay, and cotton
crops, and it has perhaps doubled since that date. In fact the value
of the corn crop to Michigan and all the other States can not be
estimated, as it is much used for the food of man and all the domestic
animals, and to it the American farmer is indebted for much of his
prosperity, for without it he would not be able to bring his cattle
and hogs into the market at the right time and in proper condition.

Heretofore the amount of pork packed has always been insufficient to
meet the demand, and the deficiency has been supplied by importations
from other cities, chiefly from Cincinnati. This season no