REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OP AGRICULTURE. 5 



A great gain is shown here in the exports of horses and mules. Usu- 

 ally the number of horses and mules exported is insignificant. The 

 total for the year (355,000) represents little more than 1 per cent 

 of the supply in the United States, and was not sufficient to prevent 

 a decline of about 4.6 per cent in the average price. 



By far the greatest gain in American agriculture in the first year 

 of the war arose from increased demand for grain. The exports of 

 wheat (and wheat flour) represented about 37 per cent of the crop of 

 1914, the usual exportation being less than 20 per cent. Farmers 

 received an average of 79 cents a bushel for the 1913 crop and $1.01 

 for that of 1914 — an increase of 22 cents a bushel or an aggregate 

 gain of approximately $196,000,000. 



The exports of corn, oats, and barley greatly increased, but, as 

 they were only a small part of the total production, the direct 

 influence on prices was comparatively small. The exports of corn 

 (and cornmeal), 51,000,000 bushels, were less than 2 per cent of 

 the total yield (2,673,000,000 bushels) ; but, as the crop of 1914 was 

 226,000,000 bushels larger than that of the preceding year, the ex- 

 ports did not absorb one-fourth of the surplus, and the average price 

 received by farmers was slightly less than that for the 1913 crop. 

 Exports of oats increased from 2,000,000 to 97,000,000 bushels, about 

 8 per cent of the crop, enough to have some influence on prices. The 

 average price per bushel to farmers was 30 cents, compared with 

 29 cents the preceding year. Exports of barley, 27,000,000 bushels, 

 were nearly 14 per cent of the crop, sufficient to have material influ- 

 ence on prices ; so that, while the production was nearly 10 per cent 

 larger than that of 1913, prices averaged 2 cents higher per bushel. 



Although the exports of meats and dairy products rose from 

 $146,000,000 to $220,000,000, or about one-half, they did not prevent 

 a decline in prices to producers of cattle and hogs, possibly because 

 of a still greater increase in available supplies during the year. 



THE COTTON SITUATION. 



The greatest adverse effect of the disturbance was on cotton mar- 

 keting. The reason for this may be seen from a few comparisons. 

 Under normal conditions we export more than 65 per cent of the 

 cotton crop, 40 per cent of the tobacco crop, 15 per cent of wheat, 

 4 per cent of barley, less than 2 per cent of corn, and less than 1 

 per cent of oats. Or, making the comparison with our total agri- 



