Commercial Notes

The lowly beet now ranks in commercial importance abovo the patrician sugar-caue. More beet sugar than cane fiiifiiir is now made by the world, cvery yenr. A sMAI.li colony of Italiau settlers at "Vineland are making arrangements to plallt a laíge tlnrnber of inulberry trees this spring whereWith tö tmter into an extensive prödnction of silk; tfíttiBt? ato ño-fr in. operation in New ríampsiiire l.ÜOU iüileë dt ïailrodd.-fthich cost $35,000,000, and their net profits are $1, 000,000, or about 3 per cent. The value of tlie roads now is about 815,000,000, and a large proportion of them do not pay 1 per cent. on tlieir cost. Emmkanth to Australia will not make Wer fortunes in ten nn'nutes ; and Mr. Adanison, uie Affiefid&H Srownt fteneral at Melbourne, writes that, in most cases, they will want to go back to the United States within a year. The Now York Tribune thinks "there is little doubt bttt ttmt gofld BU& will do better to remain here. There will be woï-t eflotlgh tor all bef ore the end of the year. " A lakge part of the business of some of the Westorn railroads tliis dull year bas been the transporta ti on of emigrants to Texas. The mof ement to this future empire oí the Lone f-tar i very great. Hundreds of families al'e gOing down to occupy the rich lands and pastures of the State. This is better than going to Australia. FoR the eight month onding Feb. 28, 1877 íhe importe and eiborts of the UÖltea StalcB weïe aa fóllüÖ, cDÖipaied with the same months in 1870 : Exporté. 1877. 1878. Doniestic producto $472,007,747 $425,698,807 Exporta, f orcign goods.... 15,206,039 12,852,253 Tötftl ïpoetB Í4H7,27i,780 $43fl,55l,120 fmtwtA. JJ utiaWr $182,609,035 $2O9,498,2ÍS6 Free 117,947, W)0 ]11,1(I8,7'JM Totdl ÍSod,5SÍ,8d í320,60fi,U84 Exporta over importa $18fi,716,235 $117,944.136 increaac in exporta over uauie tiiue iu 1876 49,722,MH Decroase in imports f roin aamc timo iu 1876 20,049,4!":t From a Kstatement published by the Bureau of Stotistics it appears that during the twelre monthg olided Febniary, fi thw exports of bacoii aiid liathö were 442,034,773 poündei; of beef, 06,383,570) pounds ; of pork, 65,684,118 pounds; of lard, 223,979,442 pounds ; and of tallow, 86,587,491 pounds, of the aggregate value of 896, 1 7 6, 766. Of the above there were shipped from New York 236,872,227 pounds of biuioii tind halas, 53,153,754 pounds of beef, 37,734,580 pounds of pork, 160,340, 491 pounds of lard, and 57,045,916 pounds of tallow. A company has been formed in California to export ment and fruit from the fat West to England. Land has been purchased at Keno and Winuemucca on which to build improved refrigerator slaughter-hbuses, and vast herds can be procured from Nevada and Utah. Stockraisers in the San Joaquín valley are willing to contribute more sheep thnn the company can i-easonably expect to hip within the year, and one man writes that he has not sold a wether for three years, and has plenty of sneep but no money. The first slaughter-house for sheep will be built at Merced. Hugh McCulloch, ex-Secretary of the Treasury, is examining the mining buRiness of California and Nevada, and is convinced that it is very precarious except for heavy capitalists. The yield of the mines steadily increases in the aggregate, but the number of men employed steadily decreases, in consequence of improvements in the machinery used. Profitable operations can only be conducted with costly appliances, the time of placer mining being long past, and the uncertainties are so great that men of moderate means are easily ruined. "In spite of all that may be said to the contrary," Mr. McCulloch says, "noone can predict with any certainty when a mine is opened how it will turn out. Some mines which promise well when work iipon them is commenced prove to be of little value. Others, which promise little when opened, prove to be very rich and enduring. Men who have made fortunes by mining will teil you that more reliance can be placed upon the opinions of the clear-headed men who work in the mines, who have never looked into a book, as to where search should be made for these metáis, than upon the opinions of those who have ruade mineralogy and mining a study in the best schools of the United States or Europe." Foktunatbly for the general intereste of coininerce, both Russia and Turkey rank low in the scale of foroign trade, as compared with other Enropean States. Their chief importance to the rest of the world lies in their being food-exporting countries ; in which respect thay are important competitors with the United States ; a fact which is of muoh more consequence to na than any intorruption of our direct trade with them can possibly be. Eussia's export of wheat, since 1864, has ranged variously between 33,000,000 bushels and 75,000,000 bushels ; but her shipments have been steadily declining, and cannot now be regarded as equal to an average between the foregoing extremes. From the Turkish provinces on the Danube, the exports of wheat now average about 14,000,000 bushels, and of maize 13,000,000 bushels, making a total supply of 27,000,060 bushels of breadstufïs sent to othor countries. If we estímate the Kussian export at ouly 45,000,000 bushels, and add to it that of Moldo Wallaohia and Roumania, we have a total of 72,000,000 bushels of wheat and maize liable to interruption of export. The only question is as to how far the export is likely to be blocked, and how far theraising andhai1vesting of the crops may be interrupted by military operatious ; poiuts which are yet veiy problematical, and must remain so until tlie plans of campaign and the disposal of the respective lleets become better kuown. ín the most favorable event, the United Sta tí s would be called on to supply large deficiencies in these sources of contributions to the wants of the gram importing countries.