368 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



The imports of articles of consumption in 

 1883 amounted to 201,638 000, cereals repre- 

 senting 71,803,000, animals, meat, and pro- 

 visions 52,988, colonial wares 45,383,000, 

 fruits and vegetables 20,505,000, tobacco 

 2,861,000. and fermented liquors 8,098,000. 

 The exports of this class of commodities 

 amounted to 11,231,000, the exports of ani- 

 mals and animal food-products being 3,385,- 

 000, of fermented liquors 2,630,000, and of 

 groceries 2,458,000. The imports of raw ma- 

 terials amounted to 135,739,000, the exports 

 to 46,478,000, the former being made up of 

 minerals of the value of 6,143,000, raw and 

 partly manufactured metals of the value of 

 9,691,000 ; hides, skins, and leather of the 

 value of 17,119,000, textile materials of the 

 value of 83,265,000, and timber of the value 

 of 19,521,000, the latter of coal of the value 

 of 10,646,000, minerals of the value of 925,- 

 000, metals of the value of 30,279,000, hides, 

 skins, and leather of the value of 3,598,000, 

 and textile materials of the value of 1,030,000. 

 The total value of the exports of manufactured 

 articles was 156,320,000, of the imports 42,- 

 508,000. The exports of glass and pottery were 

 valued at 3,417,000, the imports at 2,209,000; 

 exports of metal manufactures 8,439,000, im- 

 ports 5,910,000; exports of machines, cars, 

 and vessels 16,956,000, imports 511,000 ; ex- 

 ports of leather and fur manufactures 3,560,- 

 000, imports 2,728,000 ; exports of yarns 

 18,808,000, imports 3,072,000; exports of 

 textile manufactures 100,708,000, imports 

 35,423,000 ; exports of paper manufactures 

 1,445,000, imports 1,286,000 ; exports of art 

 products 537,000, imports 629,000 ; exports 

 of wood and straw manufactures 1,275,000, 

 imports 533,000; exports of books, etc., 1,- 

 175,000, imports 202,000. The total value of 

 miscellaneous imports was 47,007,000, of the 

 exports 25,770,000. The imports of waste 

 products and manures were 2,662,000 in value, 

 the exports 2,162,000 ; imports of drugs, col- 

 ors, and chemicals 13,250,000, exports 7,- 

 607,000; imports of gums, fats, and oils 14,- 

 918,000, exports 1,616,000; imports of various 

 articles 16,177,000, exports 14,385,000. 



The returns for the first six months give the 

 quantities of some of the leading articles of 

 import, as compared with the corresponding 

 part of the preceding years, as follow : wheat 

 19,905,285 cwt., against 31,717,993 cwt., from 

 America 11,657,260 cwt., against 15,913,294 

 cwt.; wheat-flour 7,420,641 cwt, against 9,004,- 

 996 cwt., from America 5,164,343 cwt., against 

 6,405,940 cwt., barley 4,927,841 cwt., against 



7,266,130 cwt.; oats 5,398,272 cwt., against 

 7,510,000 cwt. ; maize 12,774,691 cwt., against 

 16,026,485 cwt. ; the total value of the grain 

 imports 22,092,702, against 34,793,409 ; raw 

 sugar 10,578,359 cwt., against 10,256,334 cwt., 

 from Germany 3,346,789 cwt., against 3,085,- 

 082 cwt. ; petroleum 15,582,358 gallons, against 

 33,202,385 gallons ; raw cotton 8,897,877 cwt., 

 against 9,403,674 cwt.; jute 3,168,185 cwt., 

 against5,063,573 cwt. ; wool 356,047,986 pounds 

 against 341,679,521 pounds. Among the ex- 

 ports the shipments of coal amounted to 11,- 

 098,062 tons, against 10,608,734 tons, value 

 5,234,520, against 4,933,907; iron and steel 

 1,771,171 tons, against 1,972,379 tons, value 

 12,469,890, against 14,458,457. The exports 

 of pig-iron were 648,463 tons, against 714,- 

 319 tons, of rails 383,850 tons, against 507,069. 



Agriculture. The report of the agricultural 

 committee of the Privy Council for 1884 shows 

 a continued decrease in the area under crops, 

 with an increase in the total cultivated area, 

 due to the extension of pasturage. In Great 

 Britain the area under cultivation was 81,000 

 acres greater than the previous year. The to- 

 tal area under cultivation in England in 1884 

 was 24,844,000 acres, the area of permanent 

 pasture 12,198,000, an increase in the total of 

 1'36 and in pasture-land of 8*58 per cent, in 

 five years. The wheat area was 64,000 acres 

 greater than in 1884, which year, however, 

 showed a smaller area than any year since 1866. 

 In barley there was a decrease of 123,000, and 

 in oats of 60,000 acres. The total area under 

 grain-crops was 133.900 acres below that of 

 1884, and 946,700 acres less than in 1874. In 

 Ireland there was an increase in the area un- 

 der cultivation, due mainly to the reclamation 

 of land for stock-feeding purposes. The total 

 area planted to potatoes was greater than in 

 any year recorded except 1881, being 565,000 

 acres in Great Britain and 798,300 acres in Ire- 

 land. Market-gardens show the slight increase 

 of 3,500 acres, not enough to indicate a dispo- 

 sition on the part of the British farmer to fol- 

 low Mr. Gladstone's advice and devote his atten- 

 tion to the making of jam. Agricultural horses 

 show a decline. In cattle there was an increase 

 of 306,362 head. The number of sheep was 

 26,000,000, 1,000,000 more than in 1883, but 

 4,000,000 below the census of 1874. The av- 

 erage size of farm holdings in England was 

 137i acres, in Wales 67, in Scotland only 10 

 acres. The wheat-crop of 1884 was above the 

 low average of 25J bushels for the last nine 

 years, but not above the average of 29 buah- 

 els an acre in the period preceding 1866. 



After the enactment of the cattle-disease 

 bill, certain Englishmen interested in the rais- 

 ing of cattle in "Wyoming Territory appealed to 

 the Government to declare the Northwest of 

 the United States exempt, upon proof that it 

 was free from disease. The Privy Council aft- 

 erward ruled that the act did not apply to the 

 whole United States. The Wyoming stock- 

 raisers, represented by Moreton Frevven, pro- 





