SECTION OF FOKEIGN MARKETS. 267 



and to France also showed a considerable growth. In the case of 

 Germany there was an advance from $73,000,000 to $110,000,000, and 

 in the case of France from $42,000,000 to $75,000,000. The purchases 

 of the former country increased $46,000,000, and those of the latter 

 $33,000,000. Among the various other countries that showed a grow- 

 ing demand for our agricultural products the most important were 

 Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Denmark, and 

 British Africa. 



From summarized statistics giving the total amount of our agricul- 

 tural exports to each continent, it appeared that 88 per cent of the 

 farm produce shipped from the United States during 1894-1898 found 

 a market in Europe. The value of the shipments to European coun- 

 tries during that period averaged $587,000,000 a year. In 1898 it 

 reached as high as $762,000,000, showing a gain of $196,000,000 over 

 the record for 1894, which was $566,000,000. 



Of the agricultural exports that were sent to destinations outside of 

 Europe, amounting to about 12 per cent of the total, Canada and the 

 other North American countries and islands took a considerable por- 

 tion. The farm produce exported by the United States to destina- 

 tions in North America during the five years amounted in average 

 annual value to $49,000,000. Nearly half of it went to Canada. 



Our agricultural exports to Asia during 1894-1898 were of special 

 interest because of the marked increase that occurred. The value of 

 the shipments to Asiatic ports advanced from $4,000,000 in 1894 to 

 $15,000,000 in 1898, making a gain of 275 per cent during the brief 

 space of five years. 



The report on the distribution of our agricultural exports was pub- 

 lished as Bulletin No. 16 of the Section. As the statistics presented 

 on its pages covered in the greatest possible detail the entire list of 

 farm products exported, this bulletin proved to be exceedingly useful 

 as a ready means of answering numerous inquiries on the subject of 

 our agricultural export trade, and also as a convenient basis from 

 which to compile various statistical statements that were required in 

 the work of the office. 



REPORT ON THE SOURCES OP OUR AGRICULTURAL IMPORTS. 



To supplement the report on the distribution of our agricultural 

 exports, a bulletin along similar lines was prepared with reference to 

 the sources of our agricultural imports. As in the case of the export 

 bulletin, the review of our import trade covered the five years 

 1894-1898, shoAving the extent to which each one of the numerous 

 agricultural products imported by the United States during that period 

 was purchased from the several countries of supj)l3\ A summary of 

 agricultural import values, by countries, similar to the statement of 

 agricultural export values given in the preceding bulletin, was a fea- 

 ture of the report, probably constituting the first complete presentation 

 of such statistics. 



The report on the sources of our agricultural imports was published 

 as Bulletin No. 17 of 'the Section. In the work of the office it occupied 

 a similar place as regards the agricultural import trade to that filled 

 by Bulletin No. 16 for the agricultural export trade, affording a most 

 convenient medium of supplying information. 



From the statistics presented in Bulletin No. 17 it appeared that 

 considerably more than half of the agricultural produce imported by 

 the United States during 1894-1898 came from countries that lie 



