Wheat and Flour Prospects.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXVII, Issue 1373, 20 August 1895, Page 3

Wheat and Flour Prospects.

*— The Miller (London), June 3rd,! 1895, has the following weekly review * of the corn and flour trade: “What; causes have thrown capital into the! American corn trade, and made the * visible supply of B,ooo,oooqrs in that ; country.a bagatelle instead of a burden,! we are not prepared to say, for they! are causes lying completely outside the i corn trade itself. The petroleum ‘ boom* began it, and from that trade! speculation passed to wheat, flour and | maize. With Consols at 106J and French Rentes at 101J, capital is eagerly awaiting any chance both in the United Kingdom and in France, ■ while America, with United States four per cent. Bonds up to 123, may fairly be called in a state of crisis,! seeing that 7 to 8 per cent; ( interest is the ■ rate at which business has! been built up in America. The chance f which capitalists saw was of getting in a sound profit between the cessation of heavy Argentine wheat supplies and the securing of the new harvests in America, France and Russia. There was a coincident chance of scoring off! maize between May and the new; Argentine maize shipments, which would begin to arrive in Europe in : bulk from August, but hardly at an earlier date. It cannot be too clearly , noted that the recent advance on wheat, flour and maize has been wedged in between Argentine events and chat no effort has been made to interfere with the legitimate and steady supply of South American produce to the markets of England and Europe. Wheat at Rosario has been as safely at our disposition as wheat in Mark Lane, and maize for July shipment from Buenos Ayres has been exactly an alternative bargain, with a forward purchase from British farmers of hew pats for August reaping and prompt delivery. This has been the case' this year, but the future may see a very different state of things. Teh millions sterling would ‘ corner ’ the Argentine wheat crop, five millions would command the maize. Those who have watched the so called ‘ Kaffir circus 1 in London, will have seen how easily money is found where anything like a legitimate chance is presented, while amounts greatly exceeding £15,000,000 are produced with ease even for local enterprises, like the Manchester canal. We must, therefore, be prepared in the future to see a determined effort at manipulating Argentine harvests in the interests of American and English speculators. And if such efforts coincide with short crops in the United States or in Russia, we shall ; not have to complain of want of liveliness in market affairs,”