COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



199 



The values of the principal articles of agricultural production, constituting in 1886 about 95 

 per cent, of the total value of the exports of all products of agriculture, are given for the same 

 years in the following table : 



The values of domestic merchandise exported 

 to the principal foreign countries in 1886, com- 

 pared with the exports to the same countries 

 in 1881, with the percentage of each country 

 in the total exports for 1886, are shown in the 

 following table : 



The exports to other countries besides those 

 enumerated amounted to $35,562,500, or 5 - 34 

 per cent, of the total exports. The exports to 

 European countries amounted to $533,614,395, 

 constituting 80*13 per cent, of the total value 

 of the exports; to Asia and Oceania, $36,178,- 

 091, being 5*43 per cent, of the whole ; to 

 British North America, $31,953,124, or 4;80 

 per cent, of the exports ; to the West Indies, 

 $25,376,353, or 3'81 per cent. ; to South Amer- 

 ica, $25,277,323, or 3*79 per cent. ; to Mexico, 

 Central America, and British Honduras, $9,- 

 662,776, or 1-45 per cent. ; to Africa, $2,777,- 

 382, or 0*42 per cent. ; to all other countries, 

 $1,125,085, or 0*17 per cent. The exports to 

 Italy, Spain, the Spanish West Indies, and 

 China, showed an increase of over $1,000,000 

 each, as compared with 1885, and those to 

 Australasia and the Hawaiian Islands of over 

 $400,000 each. Those to Belgium and the 

 Netherlands were less by more than $2,000,- 

 000. The export trade with China averaged 

 $2,264,000 in 1877-'80. The exports to South 

 American countries increased from $22,169,891 



in 1877 to $31.226,934 in 1884, and have since 

 declined to $26,131,991. The exports to Aus- 

 tralasia, India, Japan, and other countries in 

 Asia, and Oceania show a progressive in- 

 crease. 



The exports from the port of New York 

 constituted 46'26 per cent, of the total value 

 of exports during the year ending June 30, 

 1886 ; 12*15 per cent, of the exports were 

 shipped from New Orleans ; from Boston, 7 '96 

 per cent. ; from Baltimore, 5*27 per cent. ; 

 from Philadelphia, 4*97 per cent. ; from San 

 Francisco, 4'45 percent. ; from Savannah, 2*99 

 per cent.; from Charleston, 2 '60 per cent.; 

 from Galveston, 2'50 per cent. ; from Norfolk, 

 1'71 per cent.; from Huron, 1*22 per cent.; 

 from all other ports, 7*92 per cent. 



The Export Trade in Wheat. The average pro- 

 duction of wheat in Europe for the eight years 

 preceding 1881 was 1,144,000,000 bushels, and 

 the average consumption in both food and seed 

 1,312,000,000 bushels, requiring a supply from 

 other countries of 168,000,000 bushels per an- 

 num. The consumption of wheat in European 

 countries ranges from 9 bushels per capita in 

 France to 1 bushel in Norway, but averages 

 about 3 bushels for food and bushel for 

 seed. The yield in Western Europe during a 

 portion of that period was abnormally low, 

 stimulating the exports from the United States, 

 and causing an increase of millions of acres in 

 the wheat area. The production in Russia, 

 India, South Australia, and other countries, 

 was increased from the same cause. In the 

 succeeding five years the European production 

 averaged 50,000,000 bushels more than the 

 yield for the period mentioned, being 1,159,- 

 826,380 bushels in 1881, 1,287,352,264 bushels 

 in 1882, 1,152,925,514 bushels in 1883, 1.270,- 

 383,227 bushels in 1884, and 1,217,809,309 

 bushels in 1885. During the ten years preced- 

 ing 1881, when deficient harvests in Europe 

 caused a great increase in American exports, 

 the production of the United States was 366,- 

 000,000 bushels. The average production for 

 the last five years has been 436,000,000 bush- 

 els. The increase of 120,000,000 bushels in the 

 production of Europe and the United States 

 was no greater than was required for the 

 increment in the population but in India, Al- 



