8 PRODUCTION AND TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



In the figures of "world" crop production the crops of wheat and 

 flaxseed harvested in the Southern Hemisphere from November to 

 February of any year are coupled with those harvested in the 

 Northern Hemisphere in the succeeding autumn. 



Statistics of the exports and imports of products specified in this 

 circular represent substantially the international trade of the world. 

 It should not be expected that the totals of the world's exports and 

 imports in the same year will agree. Among sources of disagreement 

 are these: (1) Imports received in the year subsequent to year of 

 export; (2) different periods of time covered in the year of the 

 various countries; (3) lack of uniformity among different countries 

 in the classification of goods; (4) different practices and varying 

 degrees of failure in recording countries of origin and ultimate desti- 

 nation; (5) different practices of recording reexported goods; (6) 

 different methods of treating free ports. 



The exports given are of domestic produce, with a few exceptions, 

 and the imports are imports for consumption as far as it is feasible and 

 consistent so to express the facts. While there are some inevitable 

 omissions, on the other hand there are some duplications because of 

 reshipments that do not appear as such in official reports. For the 

 United Kingdom import figures refer to imports for consumption, 

 when available, otherwise total imports less exports of "foreign and 

 colonial merchandise." 



The exports and imports of the United States include Alaska, Porto 

 Rico, and Hawaii. 



A revision of the international trade tables is now being made in 

 the Division of Production and Distribution of the Bureau of Sta- 

 tistics. This revision seems advisable on account of (1) a change in 

 the official equivalent of the kilogram recently adopted by the 

 bureau ; (2) a failure in a few cases to use exactly the same classifi- 

 cation from year to year for such composite groups as sugar, wool, 

 and oil cake; (3) new returns received from important countries. 

 The revised totals for world's exports and imports will therefore 

 differ slightly in some cases from the totals published in the Year- 

 books of the department and used in tliis circular. This revision is 

 being made as rapidly as practicable. 



