172 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



reacLing their minimum, 22.37 per cent, in quantity and 22.21 per cent, in 

 value, in 1873-'74. During the last two years the proportion of flour 

 has somewhat increased, but is still but little over a fourth of the whole 

 in quantity and value. 



Later improvements in grinding-machinery now render it practicable 

 to obtain an increased quantity of flour from the same amount of "wheat, 

 and to make the flour from less-esteemed varieties of wheat as attrac- 

 tive to consumers as the brands which formerly ruled the market. Our 

 improved and xmtented spring-wheat flours are largely replacing the 

 finest winter- wheat brands in the eastern and European markets. Thus, 

 w^e find more profit in exporting our best varieties of wheat unground, 

 and our cheaper varieties in the form of flour. These facts go to ex- 

 plain the seeming anomaly of selling to foreigners our ground wheat at 

 prices no higher than those obtained for the unground. 



Wheat, including flour, still constitutes the greater part of our cereal 

 exports. It fell below half the quantity of the total exix)rt only in 

 18GG-'G7, in which the short crop of 186G formed the basis of the trade ; 

 but even in that year its aggregate value surpassed that of all other 

 cereals. The maximum proportion of wheat exports, 95 per cent, in 

 quantity and value, was in 18G9-'70, the abundant crop of 1869 afford- 

 ing a very large surplus for foreign consumption. In general terms, it 

 may be stated that flour and wheat, consolidated, have averaged over 

 two-thirds of the quantity and three-fourths of the value of the annual 

 cereal exports since the close of the late civil war. 



During the last fiscal year tlie exports of wheat and flour constituted 

 25.58 per cent, of the estimated wheat-crop of 1875, whereas the exports 

 of the previous fiscal year were 23.23 per cent, of the estimated crop of 

 1874. Of the crops of tlie previous calendar years, the proportions 

 exported were as follows : Crop of 1873, 32,54 per cent. ; 1872, 20.8 per 

 cent.; 1871, 1G.82 per cent, j 1870, 22.28 per cent. ; 18G9, 20.72 per cent. ; 

 18G8, 13.72 per cent.; 1SG7, 12.23 per cent.; 18GG, 8.32 per cent.; 1865, 

 11.1 per cent. ; 1SG4, 14.3 per cent. ; 1863, 24 per cent. Of later years, 

 ^ve spare about one-fourth of our annual production for the wants of 

 foreign countries, while our annual yield is steadily increasing in spite 

 of fluctuations; this gives us the basis of a permanently-enlarged 

 export. 



Corn. — The exports of corn, including meal reduced to its equivalent 

 in grain, (estimated at 4 bushels per barrel,) duringthelast yc^ir amounted 

 to 50,910,532 bushels, the largest amount ever exported in a single fiscal 

 year, and nearly 70 per cent, greater than the previous year. Of this 

 quantity, the proportion sent out in the form of meal was but 2.81 per 

 cent, of the whole, the smallest proportion within the last thirteen fiscal 

 years. The largest proportion, 34.96, was in 18G9-'70, but it has steadily 

 fallen off since that time. This, however, is not the result of a falling 

 otf in the number of barrels of meal, but of an increase in the number of 

 bushels of grain exported. The aggregate value of tbe exports of corn 

 and meal was $34,570,307, an increase of 33.84 per cent, over the pre- 

 vious year, and by far th(3 greatest value ever exported; it averages 

 $0.67.9 per bushel, against $0.85.7 the i^revious year. The maximum 

 value during the last thirteen fiscal years, $1.43.1 per bushel, was in 

 18G4-'65, but subsequent years have shown a general tendency to 

 decline, though with some fluctuations. Of the total declared value 

 only 3.75 per cent, represents corn-meal, the smallest proportion on 

 record. The average value of meal per barrel fell -from $4.42.5 to 

 $3.59.9, the minimum for thirteen years past ; the maximum, $7.47.1, 

 was in 1864- '65. The average value of unground corn was $0.67.2 



