FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1900. 



223 



absorb these stocks, and the tendency was gener- 

 ally upward to the close of the month. On the 

 22d the transactions on the Exchange were un- 

 precedentedly large for a half holiday, amounting 

 to 1,005,519 shares, and the sales for the week end- 

 ing that day were 7,775,640 shares, exceeding in 

 amount any previously recorded. For the seven 

 weeks ending Dec. 21, including the week ending 

 Nov. 9, the transactions in stocks were 38,09(5,044 

 shares, and the tone of the market during this 

 entire period was almost uninterruptedly strong 

 and at times remarkably buoyant. Total sales of 

 stocks at the New York Stock Exchange in 1900 

 were 138,380,184 shares, against 176,421,135 shares 

 in 1899, 112,699,957 in 1898, 77,324,172 in 1897, 

 54,490,643 in 1896, 66,583,232 in 1895, 49,075,032 in 

 1894, 80,977,839 in 1893, 85,875,092 in 1892, 69,- 

 031,689 in 1891, and 71,282,885 in 1890. 



The following shows the highest prices of a few 

 of the speculative stocks in 1899, and the highest 

 and lowest prices in 1900: 



The following table shows prices of a few of the 

 leading stocks at the beginning of the years 1899, 

 1900, and 1901: 



The Crops. The condition of the cereal crops 

 was somewhat unfavorable early in the year, 

 owing to the backward season, which delayed 

 farm operations, and also to winter killing of fall- 

 sown wheat. Conditions were, however, by no 

 means uniform, wheat being at a low average in 

 Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, and high in the 

 Soutnwest, on the Pacific coast, in Illinois, and in 

 Kansas. Conditions improved later in the spring, 

 so far as regards winter wheat, but spring-sown 



grain was unfavorably affected by drought. The 

 harvest of fall-sown grain, which began in June, 

 was excellent in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma, 

 and the indications then pointed to a crop of 

 winter wheat at least 50,000,000 bushels in excess of 

 that in the previous season. The damage to spring 

 wheat was greatest in the extreme Northwest, 

 but the July report of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture showed that the largely increased yield in 

 Kansas and in other States in that section would, 

 to a considerable extent, offset the loss in Minne- 

 sota and in the Dakotas. The condition of corn 

 was then reported better than at the corresponding 

 date in 1899, while the cotton crop outlook was 

 good. Corn declined in condition during the latter 

 part of the summer, in consequence of the hot 

 weather, but as the acreage was larger the yield 

 was expected to be above the average. Official 

 estimates of the results of the combined wheat 

 crops were but little below the output of the pre- 

 vious year. At the end of the season the final 

 estimates of the Department of Agriculture indi- 

 cated a yield of 2,105,000,000 bushels of corn, of 

 522,229,000 of wheat, of 809,126,000 of oats, of 

 59,000,000 of barley, and of 24,000,000 of rye, and 

 the striking feature of the estimates was that 

 the grand total of these cereals was 3,519,879,770 

 bushels, against 3,518,988,796 in 1899. The yield 

 of wheat was unexpectedly good, and the results 

 were phenomenal in Kansas and in other States 

 in that locality. The estimates of the yield of 

 cotton were from 9,900,000 to 10,500,000 bales. 

 The Department of Agriculture based its calcula- 

 tion of a crop of 9,930,270 bales of cotton upon 

 an acreage of 25,038,000 and a yield of 194 pounds 

 per acre. The largest crops were raised in Texas, 

 Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Ar- 

 kansas, Louisiana, and North Carolina. The 

 smallest crops were in Virginia, Missouri, and 

 Florida. The table at the foot of this page shows 

 the yield and the value of the crops for the years 

 1899 and 1900 on the basis of the price at New 

 York at the beginning of 1900 and 1901. 



Foreign Exchange. The exports of domestic 

 and foreign merchandise for the year ending Dec. 

 31, 1900 ; were $202,582,883 above those of 1899, 

 and the imports of merchandise were $30,084,706 

 greater. The excess of merchandise exports over 

 imports for the year was $648,998,738, against 

 $476,500,561 for 1899. The excess of exports over 

 imports of merchandise and gold and silver coin 

 and bullion for 1900 was $662,856,506, against 

 $493,162,816 in 1899. Gold imports were $12,- 

 603,402 in excess of exports in 1900, against 

 $5,955,553 in 1899. 



The foreign exchange market was influenced 

 early in January by a fall in open market dis- 

 count rates in London, reflecting easier conditions 

 prevailing at that center, which caused a reduction 

 in the Bank of England minimum rate on the 

 llth from 6 per cent, to 5 per cent. Concurrently 

 there was a reduction by the Bank of France in 

 its rate from 4^ per cent, to 4 per cent., and by 

 the Bank of Germany from 7 per cent, to 6 per 

 cent., and later to 5i per cent. Still another in- 

 fluence affecting exchange was the withdrawal by 



