268 DEPAETMENTAL REPORTS. 



wholly or in chief part within the Tropics. The average annual value 

 of the products of agriculture purchased directly from such countries 

 during the five years amounted to $193,000,000, while the value 

 of our agricultural imports from all other sources averaged only 

 $176,000,000. Of these latter imports, however, an important part 

 undoubtedly consisted of tropical products that were received in- 

 directly, coming in the form of reexports from countries outside of 

 the Tropics. Taking into account these indirect purchases, it can be 

 safely estimated that onr agricultural imports annually include over 

 $200,000,000 worth of tropical products. 



Of the agricultural imports received directly from the Tropics dur- 

 ing 1894—1898, it is interesting to note that about 30 per cent came 

 from our new insular dependencies — Cuba, Porto Rico, the HaAvaiian 

 Islands, and the Philippines. The average yearly value of the agri- 

 cultural produce supplied from these four sources was $57,000,000. 



Next to Bi-azil, which furnishes over two-thirds of the coffee con- 

 sumed in the United States, Cuba is the most imi^ortant among the 

 sources from which our agricultural imports are derivisd. During 

 1894-1898 we purchased agricultural produce from Cuba to the aver- 

 age annual value of $37,000,000. These figures, however, owing to 

 the disturbed conditions that prevailed on the island throughout the 

 period mentioned, do not represent a normal state of trade. In 1893, 

 under more peaceful conditions, our agricultural imports from Cuba 

 reached a value of nearly $75,000,000. At that time Cuba stood fore- 

 most among the sources of our imj)ort trade in agricultural products, 

 and as soon as the j)resent process of rehabilitation has restored Cuban 

 agriculture to its normal state the island will doubtless resume its 

 former importance in this respect. 



In addition to sugar, which is of course the leading article among 

 our Cuban imports, we procure from the island in considerable quan- 

 tities leaf tobacco, hides and skins, tropical fruits, such as the banana 

 and the orange, cocoanuts, cocoa, and various other products yielded 

 by the Tropics. 



The agricultural produce imported into the United States from 

 Porto Rico during 1894-1898 had an average annual value of some- 

 thing over $2,000,000. As in the case of our Cuban imports, sugar 

 formed the principal item. In fact, our imports from these two 

 islands differ little in character, except that among the products pur- 

 chased from Porto Rico cofl'ee occupies a rather prominent place. 



Our agricultural imports from the Hawaiian Islands during 1894- 

 1898 amounted in average yearly value to $12,000,000. Sugar was 

 decidedly the largest item. Other Hawaiian products imported by 

 the United States quite extensiveh^ are rice, coffee, and bananas. 



From the Philippine Islands we imported agricultural products to 

 the average annual value of $5,000,000. Manila hemp, the commer- 

 cial supply of which comes entirelj^ from these islands, formed the 

 principal factor in the trade. After this fiber, the most important 

 item was sugar. While at present our agricultural imports from the 

 Philippines consist chiefly of manila hemp and sugar, the islands 

 yield numerous other tropical products that will doubtless be obtained 

 there in increasing quantities. 



REPORT ON OUR TRADE WITH JAPAN, CHINA, AND HONGKONG. 



The growing demand for information relative to the commerce that 

 is being developed with countries across the Pacific led to the prepara- 



