MRS. B

WHEN we last parted, you expressed a wish that we should raise all our corn at home, in order to be completely independant of the casualties attending a foreign supply.

CAROLINE

Yes; for were we at war with those countries which usually furnished us with corn, they would withhold the supply. Or, should they experience a dearth, they would no longer have it in their power to send us corn.

MRS. B

We occasionally import corn from different parts of America, from the shores of the Baltic, and those of the Mediterranean seas. Now it is very improbable either that we should be in a state of warfare with those various countries at the same period of time, or that they should all be afflicted with a dearth of produce in the same season. There is much greater chance of a scarcity prevailing in any single country than in every part of the world at once; and should we depend wholly on that country for our supply, where would be our resource in case of a deficiency?

CAROLINE

Under such circumstances it would certainly be right to import corn; I object only to doing so habitually, and not depending, in ordinary times, on the produce of our own country.