side of
the Stock Yards, and can not possibly get into a
packing-house.

This reply came too late to have any effect upon French legislation, and
the decree of prohibition has been re-enacted. So far we notice no
marked effect upon the prices of pork products in this country, but
later it must result in depression. We notice the leading papers of the
United States are advocating the retaliatory measures proposed months
ago by THE PRAIRIE FARMER against European States interdicting
the importation of our meat products. We refer to the prohibition of
French and German adulterated and poisonous wines and liquors, and dry
goods and silk goods colored with poisonous dyes. It must come to this
at last if such totally unreasonable legislation against American
products is to continue in those countries.

CORN, WHEAT, AND COTTON.

The preliminary crop estimates by the Statistician of the Department of
Agriculture have been completed. He says the average yield of corn per
acre for 1883 was within a fraction of twenty-three bushels, which is 12
per cent less than the average for a series of several years past. The
quality is another thing.

It is doubtless true, Mr. Dodge says, that the quality of the corn north
of parallel forty is worse than for many years, increasing practically
the amount of shortage indicated by the number of bushels. As the whole
corn grown in 1883 in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Dakota, added
to half that grown in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, would
make 400,000,000 bushels only--a fourth of the whole crop--so that the
possible depreciation of 40 per cent in all of it would be equivalent to
a 10 per cent reduction in the value of the entire crop. The Illinois
Department agents make the quality 31 per cent less than the average in
this State. An effort will be made later, after the worst of the crop
has been fed, to ascertain the feeding value of the year's product. It
is not proposed, however, to reduce the product to the equivalent of
merchantable corn, or "sound" corn, as no crop ever is free from
immaturity or imperfection. There always are some Northern fields caught
by frost, some neglected acres, some choked with weeds or flooded by
over-flows, and so on--corn, which is mainly "nubbins." What is intended
without reference to panic or exaggeration is to find out the exact
truth and then tell it. There is nothing gained, be it to farmers or
consumers, the Stati