118 



COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



EXPORTS OF WHEAT AND CORN FKOM THE UNITED STATES IN 1861. 



The exports of flour and wheat reduced to 

 bushels of wheat make 52,756,837 bushels, at 

 an aggregate value of $62,959,473, a larger 

 quantity and value than was ever before ship- 

 ped from the United States in a single year. Its 

 magnitude may be appreciated when we reflect 

 that the whole crop of wheat for the Union, per 

 census of 1850, was only 100,485,000 bushels. 

 Thus a quantity equal to more than half the 

 crop was exported in the fiscal year 1861. The 

 British Islands have been by far the largest cus- 

 tomers for this grain, but France took an unu- 

 sual quantity, owing to the shortness of her 

 crops. Generally France rivals the United 



States in supplying Great Britain, but this year 

 she was a buyer. The exports of flour were also 

 considerable to the North American colonies, 

 Great Britain, and the West Indies. The South 

 American States and Spanish "West Indies have 

 long been regular buyers of American flour, 

 particularly of Southern wheat. It is remark- 

 able that the large quantity this year exported 

 has, so far from raising the price of flour in the 

 home market, left it lower than ever. The esti- 

 mates at the Patent Office have been that the 

 consumption of wheat in the United States is 

 three and a half bushels per head. On this 

 basis, the population of the United States per 



