FOOD IMPORTS 121 



FOOD IMPORTS OF OTHER COUNTRIES 



Great Britain depends more than any other 

 country on imported food supplies ; during the 

 last thirty years every exporting country has 

 looked to us for their market. Contrasting the 

 sea-borne imports of food supplies with those that 

 reach us from the interior of Europe, we cannot 

 fail to be struck with the difference in the pro- 

 portion of the total production which is marketed 

 here. Whereas up to a year ago practically the 

 entire exports of Australia and New Zealand butter 

 have been sent to Great Britain, the supplies 

 reaching us from Russia, most of which comes 

 from Siberia, account for only about a quarter of 

 Russia's exports. 



In looking to the future it must be expected 

 that the surplus food supplies of the exporting 

 countries will be diverted to other markets to a 

 greater degree than in the past. Advantageous 

 as the concentration of food supplies from all 

 over the world has been to our consumers in the 

 past, it should not be forgotten that it has been 

 the constant object of the producing countries 

 to create other markets for their products. Thus, 

 New Zealand and Australia have built up a con- 

 siderable trade in frozen meat with the Philip- 

 pines, and it is significant that the shortage of 

 beef in Queensland, due to the recent drought, has 



