EErOKT or THE STATISTICIAN. 



Imports of agricultural products, 1886 — Continued. 



io } 



Products. 



Jliscellaneous— Continuod. 



JJlalt, barley 



Oils, vegetable— 



Fixed or expressed— 



Olive 



Other 



Volatile or essential 



Rice 



Seed 



Spices — 



Ground 



Ungi'oiind — 



Nutmegs 



Pepper 



All other 



T<)bacco— 

 Leaf- 

 Suitable for wrappers . 



Value. 



$237, S43 



C51. 

 1,27'2, 



947, 

 2, 047, 

 3, 200, 



170,42 



45S, 



1,044, 



678, 



37, 175 



Products. 



Miscellaneous— Continued. 



Tobacco— leaf , all other 



Vegetables — 



Beans and peas 



Potatoes 



Pickles and sauces 



All other 



Wines- 

 Champagne and other spark- 

 ling 



StUl wines— 



In casks 



In bottles 



Total miscellaneous 



Value. 



$7,792,832 



585,401 

 049, 009 



994, 347 



3,110,293 



2,519,624 

 1,310,125 



5,757,918 



RECAPITULATION. 



Sugar and molasses $86, 369, 414 



Tfia, coffee, and cocoa 60,486,718 



Auiuial.s and their products 58, 207, 181 



Miscellaneous 66, 757, 918 



Total imports of agricultural products 271 , 821 , 231 



Tliis exliilDit of agricnltural excliaiiges in a nation inore prolific in 

 variety, in forms of production, and more abundant in quantity than 

 any other, is a striking illustration of the fact that each country 

 practically provides for itself; that its surplus is mainly the accident 

 of the adjustment of consumption to production, and therefore that 

 foreign trade must ever be a comparatively unimportant considera- 

 tion to its agriculture. 



Circumstances, mainly climatological, have given this country an 

 advantage in growing cotton and tobacco which has amounted al- 

 most to a monopoly. The result has been an excessive amount of 

 exportation, favoring our ba,lance of trade, without benefiting cor- 

 respondingly the districts of largest production. This result was 

 unnecessary, coming from neglect of other branches of agriculture 

 and from dependence on other and distant districts for supplies, even 

 for such bulky products as hay and corn for horses and bread and 

 meat for men. Tliis neglect has reduced the profits of cotton-grow- 

 ing and stimulated production and prices in the regions where sur- 

 plus grain and meat are produced. The benefit might have been 

 appropriated mainly by the cotton-growing districts, had all neces- 

 sary supplies been produced at home. Those farmers who are acting 

 on this simple truth in farm economy are advancing rapidly in pros- 

 perity. 



Leaving out cotton from our list of agricultural exports, $205, 085, 642 

 from $-134, 954, 505, the remainder for the past year is $279,868,953. 

 The imports of such products, mostly foods and beverages, amounted 

 to $271,821,231, leaving a beggarly balance exclusive of the cotton 

 export3. 



It is a short time since only one-fifth of the cotton and one-third of 

 the tobacco was respectively the amount of domestic consumption. 

 'Now one-third of a much larger crop of cotton is required for home 

 manufacture and fully half of the tobacco, and these proportions 

 will be increased in the future, to the great benefit of growers and 

 increased eagerness of foreign buyers. 



