REPORT OF THE STATISTICflAN. 



187 



able foreign-export trade. Prices show a marked reduction all through 

 the year. January opened at 78 ©85 cents, but quotations fell to 54® 55, 

 September 1, with a subsequent reaction, which carried them nearly up 

 to their opening figures at the end of the year. 



Barley. — No receipts of this grain are noted in the commercial reports 

 of Baltimore. 



The following table represents the flour and grain movements of the 

 last five years : 



CINCINNATI. 



The statistics of the flour and grain trade of Cincinnati are compiled 

 chiefly from the annual reports of the chamber of- commerce, and 

 represent "commercial years" instead of calendar years. The report 

 for the twelve months ending August 31, 187G, of course, shows but a 

 small portion of the crops last harvested, and embraces mainly the 

 crops of 1875. The flour trade during the last commercial year was 

 very unsatisfactory both to millers and dealers. The wheat crop in 

 many districts dependent on the Cincinnati market suflered serious 

 disaster during the growing and harvest season of 1875, which not only 

 reduced the amount of flour marketed, but rendered much of it very 

 unsound. This is especially true of wheat in Ohio and Indiana, where 

 destructive floods were numerous during the summer of 1875. The 

 trade in raw grain, however, shows the same steady increase in the last 

 commercial year that characterized it during several preceding years. 

 Cincinnati, which has long been a large consuming market, is 

 annually extending its distributive trade. This extension is partly the 

 result of favorable railroad prices of transportation, while on the other 

 hand the enlargement of the volume of that trade tends to perpetuate 

 those favorable terms. Elevating machinery is being brought into play 

 for the handling of grain, and all the modern improvements of a great 

 grain market are in j)rogress of construction or in contemplation. The 

 Cincinnati Southern Railroad, now under construction, will open a still 

 wider field of commercial enterprise,^ giving access to many southern 



