1848.                 1849. 
Indian corn, quarters            1,582,755             2,249,571
"    meal, cwts.                 233,880               102,181

1850.                 1851. 
Indian corn, quarters            1,286,264             1,810,425
"    meal, cwts.                  11,401

The trade in maize, or Indian corn, is totally new since 1846.  The famine in Ireland in that year, and the potato rot in almost every successive year since, have now fully established it.  Like the gold discoveries, the potato rot may be regarded as a providential means of effecting a great change in the condition of society.  Those discoveries are not without their influence in the East, and, combined with the potato rot, they have rapidly increased the commerce between the East and West of Europe, while they are spreading broad paths between all Europe and the lands in the Southern Ocean.  The imports of maize from all parts, in 1852, amounted to 1,550,000 quarters, of which about 1,100,000 quarters arrived in vessels from the Mediterranean, &c., calling at Queenstown or Falmouth for orders.  The balance consisted of imports from America, France, Portugal, &c., and also of cargoes addressed direct to a port of discharge, without first calling off the coast for orders.  The quantities received in 1851 and 1852 from the Mediterranean were as follows:—­

                                     1852. 1851. 
  Received from qrs. qrs. 
    Galatz 223,000 286,067
    Ibraila 362,600 211,779
    Salonica 35,640 95,377
    Odessa 219,170 74,065
    Egypt 50,960 86,260
    Italy 8,250 162,544
    Constantinople, Malta,
      Trieste, and other
      ports in the Mediterranean 190,720 286,358
                                  --------- ---------
                                  1,090,340 1,202,450

The various quarters from whence we derive supplies of this grain, are shown in the following table of the imports for the last three years, which I have compiled from the most recent Parliamentary returns.

INDIAN CORN AND MEAL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.
------------------------------------------------------------

-------------
|       1849.     |       1850.    |       1851.
|-----------------|----------------|---------------
PLACES.      |  Corn.  | Meal. |  Corn.  | Meal.|  Corn.  |Meal.
|   qrs.  | cwts. |   qrs.  | cwts.|   qrs.  |cwts.
----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|--

-------|-----
Russian Ports in      |         |       |         |      |         |
Black Sea           |   25,519|       |   19,721|      |   98,176|
Denmark               |    1,300|       |      250|      |        5|