REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. LXIX 



$12,000,000 worth of goods to the Orient, as against only $5,500,000 

 worth during 1896, five years ago. The cotton fabrics we marketed 

 in the Orient during the past fiscal j^ear formed in value more than 50 

 per cent of our total exports of these goods to all destinations. 



After cotton, the principal article among our agricultural exports to 

 the Orient is wheat flour. The trade in this product has been nearly 

 doubled since 1896. In that year the shipments amovuited to 1,211,000 

 barrels, worth $3,600,000, whereas in 1900 they reached as high as 

 2,378,000 barrels, worth over $7,000,000, 



MARKETS IN THE NEW DEPENDENCIES. 



During the past fiscal year the new island dependencies of the United 

 States — Cuba, Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Philippines — 

 furnished a market for more than $45,000,000 worth of our domestic 

 products, manufactured and agricultural. Five years ago these same 

 islands purchased from us only $13,000,000 worth of goods. In the 

 four years subsequent to 1896 our export trade with the islands men- 

 tioned has been more than trebled in value. 



A comparison of our total domestic exports for the years 1896 and 

 1900 shows that the value increased in the case of Cuba from $7,300,000 

 to $25,000,000, Porto Rico from $2,100,000 to $4,300,000, the Hawaiian 

 Islands from $3,900,000 to $13,000,000, and the Philippines from less 

 than $200,000 to over $2,600,000. 



The growth of our agricidtural exports to the new dependencies 

 during these years was proportionately as great as that recorded for 

 our total exports of domestic merchandise. During the fiscal year 

 1900 we sold to the various islands over $20,000,000 worth of farm 

 produce, as compared with only $6,300,000 worth during 1896. 



With Cuba our agricultural export trade in the period under con- 

 sideration increased from $4,000,000 to $14,000,000, with Porto Rico 

 from $1,200,000 to $2,300,000, with the Hawaiian Islands from 

 $1,100,000 to $2,800,000, and with the Philippines from less than 

 $23,000 to $1,700,000. 



DIVISION OF PUBLICATIONS. 



GROWTH OF THE PUBLICATION W^ORK. 



The publication work of the Department necessarily grows step by 

 step with the growth of the Department at large. The dift'usion of 

 useful information is obviously as important a part of the duty im- 

 posed upon the Department as its acquisition. Every efi'ort has been 

 made to discriminate in the distribution of our publications so as to 

 minimize the waste which is inseparable to greater or less extent from 

 a system of free distribution. It is, however, a flattering tribute to 



