CERTAIN ARTICLES of FOREIGN and COLONIAL PRODUCTION IMPORTED in the FOUR YEARS 1865-68; and their AVERAGE PRICES, exclusive of Duty.

CERTAIN ARTICLES of FOREIGN and COLONIAL PRODUCTION IMPORTED in the FOUR YEARS 1865-68; and their AVERAGE PRICES, exclusive of Duty-continued.

STATISTICS OF DAIRY PRODUCE.

(The following Quotations, &c., are extracted from The Grocer.' See
Nos. for Jan. 2, 1869, and Jan. 1, 1870):

PRICES CURRENT on 1st SATURDAY in JANUARY of each YEAR, from the latest
actual MARKET SALES.

"The total quantity of butter received into the Cork market for
the century (1769-1868) amounts to nearly twenty-five million
packages; the actual number being upwards of 24,500,000, or over
a million tons, a quantity more easily spoken of than conceived.
In the season of 1769-70 the supply was 105,809 packages, con-
sisting of firkins and kegs. From 1772 to 1809 the butter was also

sent in casks. In 1775 it had increased to 221,298 packages. It did not reach 300,000 till the year 1829, when the number received was 306,670, the other 100,000 being arrived at in 1856, when the supply had increased to 400,509 firkins-the make of kegs having been almost discontinued since 1853. The Cork butter market is held daily, with the exception of about fifteen days' interval in March or April between the old and the new seasons, and a few holidays. There are, therefore, about 290 markets held in the year. The average supply is now 1400 firkins per day, or 400,000 firkins annually, the exporting of which is divided among about forty merchants, one eminent firm-that of Messrs. C. and J. O'Sullivanshipping about one-eighth of the whole quantity. Within the last dozen years the exports to the colonies, which used to be large, have fallen off, owing to various causes, principally the increase of their own produce. The foreign trade is now small, the great bulk of the supply of Cork butter coming to the English markets. As the prices for those twelve years have been influenced only by the home demand, we give the highest and lowest prices for each of those years for first quality Corks, which may be taken as the standard of value of the finest Irish butter:

"The make of which must have been lessened by the same cause that lessened the make of butter the long-continued drought-has varied less in price than almost any article in the provision market; and if the reports of the small stocks now held by the makers and the factors be correct, and we have no reason to doubt it, there seems a reasonable prospect of choice goods going shillings dearer before the close of the present season. In referring to the range of prices for the past year (1868), as our space will not allow us to quote all kinds, we have taken Cheshire cheese as the representative of English, and American of the foreign; in giving these quotations they are the prices of the best qualities. Cheshire

from January to April ranged from 768. to 868. May 768. to 848. June 788. to 868. July to the second week in August 768. to 848., then to the end of August 768. to 80s. September 768. to 848. The range throughout almost the entire of October and November was 768. to 868. A few choice parcels in December realised 90s. American from January to March 608. to 648. April 648. to 708. May and early part of June 568. to 628.; end of June 568. to 668. July 568. to 628. August and September 60s. to 668. October 608. to 70s. November and December 648. to 748.: thus showing, whilst butter has advanced considerably over 30s. per cwt. on Irish, and over 408. on foreign, Cheshire cheese shows an advance of only 108. per cwt., and American 128.

YEAR 1869.-BUTTER.

"Not a very long time since the import of Irish butter into England exceeded that of foreign. The quantity of Irish has since increased, but not in the same proportion as foreign, and the former is now but a fraction compared with the latter. It also implies that the condition of the English workman must have greatly improved, for the increase of population will not account for the immensely increased consumption.

"The season in the Cork market nominally begins in April, when the cows begin to be fed on the grass, and that butter-tainting food, the turnip, is no longer needed. 1868 had an unusually dry summer, and very high prices prevailed in consequence, the make of butter being deficient; the season 1869, therefore, found stocks used up, and the opening prices were at the extraordinary rates of 1408. for firsts and seconds, and 1138. for thirds; but, with fine weather, and everything promising well, these figures could not hold, and the 1st of May saw them at 1228., 1088., and 918. They continued to slide down, and on May 13, 1018., 968., and 878., were the quotations. This was about the lowest point, and the prices continued through May, June, and July, almost unchanged at 1048., 1008., and 92s. The summer and autumn came very favourable. Grass was abundant, and there was unquestionably a large make of butter; but it is rarely that August passes without a stir in prices, and, as it drew near its close, 1138., 106s., and 988., were obtained. Since then there has been a gradual and steady advance up to the present, when the stiff figures of 1328., 1208., and 1058., have to be paid, with every prospect of a further advance. That the summer was favourable for the production of butter in Ireland will be apparent from the fact that about 390,000 firkins have been sold up to Christmas, 1869, against 335,000 the previous year, being an increase in money-value of about 200,0001.