KEPOET OF THE STATISTICIAN. 271 



EELATIONS WITH SOUTH AMEEICA. 



This country has yet had little intercourse with sister republics of 

 South America. It seems strange that countries so sparsely settled and 

 so rich in agricultural resources should obtain any portion of their bread- 

 stuffs from nations thousands of miles away. As they become settled 

 in the future, we cannot expect to furnish their bread-supply, but there 

 always will be peculiar products of our agriculture, and extended prod- 

 ucts or manufactures, which might be profitably exchanged for such of 

 their tropical products as we cannot produce. The balance of trade is 

 already fearfully against us. It must eventually furnish a profitable out- 

 let to the goods of our agricultural-implement makers, which trade should 

 be cultivated assiduously. With this view, it is deemed desirable to 

 present some fragmentary glim^jses of the agricultural status of these 

 countries, and especially the trade relations between us, particularly the 

 exchanges of agricultural products. 



BRAZIL. 



The trade of Brazil, so far as this country is concerned, is quite too 

 one-sided. Secretary Fish, in his last report on commercial relations 

 with foreign countries, says that in 1875 Brazil sent to this country pro- 

 ductions exceeding $42,000,000 in value, and received about one-sixth of 

 that amount. The total value, as officially reported, of our exports tp 

 Brazil in 1876 was $7,253,218. 



The following are the main items of this export: 



Breadstuffs of all kinds $3,940,398 



Lard, 4,486,402 pounds 743,073 



Cotton manufactures 585,299 



Iron and its manufactures 377,551 



Wood and manufactures of 282, 817 



Drugs, chemicals, aud medicines 152, 847 



Steel and its manufactures 80, 644 



Paintings and engravings 72,755 



Books and publications.. 58,845 



Paper and stationery 51^ 203 



Other exports 907^856 



Total 7,253,218 



Of these minor exports there were of agricultural implements, $8,211 ; 

 living animals, $3,823; fruits, $8,329; bacon and hams, beef, butter, 

 and cheese amounting to $7,093. 



Coftee, the great staple production of Brazil, is largely consumed in 

 the United States, and is steadily increasing in quantity produced. 

 The amount received in 1873 from Brazil was $30,861,906 ; in 1874 it 

 amounted to $37,342,092, and in 1875 to $35,099,274. This exportation 

 is entirely from the ports of Eio de Janeiro and Santos. Total quan- 

 tity in 1875 was over $229,701,637. The chief article imported from 

 the United States is flour. The annual exports to the United States 

 amount to more than $42,500,000, (nearly $44,000,000 in 1875,) while 

 the imports do not exceed $7,500,000. Sugar, coffee, cocoa, and 

 wood, in the list of 1875, figure up nearly $40,000,000, while the 

 agricultural imports from the United States are comparatively in- 

 significant. The want of suflflcient facilities for cheap and rapid 



