124 



COMMERCE (FOREIGN) OF THE UNITED STATES. 



finished manufactures in the above tables to the 

 entire exportation of merchandise is, for the 

 three years, about 12.1 per cent., and for 1877 

 about 12.3 per cent., or, including specie, 11.57 

 per cent. Taking manufactured and partly 

 manufactured commodities on one side, includ- 

 ing provisions, and the products of the soil and 

 mines which have received little improvement 

 on the other, such as breadstuff's, coal, cotton, 

 petroleum, tobacco, oil-cake, crude turpentine, 

 train-oil, hides, tallow, etc., the proportion of 

 manufactures to the total exports, including 

 specie, was about 36 per cent., and not includ> 

 ing specie, 45.2 per cent, for 1877, and 30.9 

 per cent, for the three years. The proportion 

 was something like 25 per cent, for the last 

 eight years, and has increased within a few 

 years. A progressive though fluctuating in- 

 crease is observable in nearly all the natural 

 products for the last eight years. The fluctu- 

 ations in the foreign consumption of some of 

 the articles depends greatly upon the prices at 

 which they can be exported, as they have to 

 compete with cheaper substitutes ; such is the 

 case, for instance, with petroleum and dried 

 fruits. The grain-exports are governed by the 

 itate of the crops in different parts of the 

 world. The demand for some, like that for 

 most manufactured articles, depends upon the 

 temporary prosperity and spending power of 

 the people of other countries. All of the dif- 

 ferent kinds of prepared provisions have been 

 exported in larger quantities each successive 

 year ; they are cheaper than the same articles 

 produced in Europe, and so their consumption 

 is steadily increasing in continental and colo- 

 nial countries, among the richer classes in times 

 of depression and among the poorer in times 

 of prosperity. In regard to products of that 

 sort, the present financial depression affords 

 some compensating benefit to the American 

 producer, in helping him to a market which is 

 much easier to retain than to acquire in the 

 first place. The principal national markets of 

 some of the classes of exports above enumer- 

 ated, with the quantities or numbers taken by 

 each in thousands, were for the year 1876, the 

 latest reported, as follows (the values in thou- 

 sands of dollars are given in parentheses) : 



Animals: British America, Cuba, Mexico. 

 Tan-bark: Great Britain (125), France (53), 

 Germany(27). Breadstuffs: Indian-corn Great 

 Britain, 42,500 bushels ; wheat Great Britain, 

 42 million bushels (52 million dollars), Can- 

 ada, Holland, Belgium, Portugal ; flour Great 

 Britain, Brazil, Canada, Hayti (7, 4, 1, and 1 

 million dollars respectively). Coal: Canada. 

 Cotton : British Empire, France, Germany, 

 Russia, Spain, Holland, Italy, and Belgium (955, 

 203, 108, 80, 47, 34, 23, 15 million Ibs. respec- 

 tively). Fruits : Dried apples Australia, Ger- 

 many^ Canada; ripe apples Great Britain 

 (120), Canada (36), Cuba (13), Brazil (7); canned 

 fruit Great Britain (113), Australia (24), Brit- 

 ish Possessions (36), Germany (18), Spanish 

 America, Hong-Kong, China, France. Gin- 



seng : Hong-Kong, England. Hay : "West In- 

 dies. Hides and fur-skins: England, Germany, 

 France, Belgium. Hops: England (1,296), Aus- 

 tralia (62). Ice : East and West Indies. Ma- 

 nure : Canada, England, France. Naval stores : 

 Resin and turpentine Great Britain (1,230), 

 Germany (262), Netherlands (177), Russia, Aus- 

 tria, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Italy ; 

 tar and pitch Great Britain, British America, 

 Italy. Mineral oils : Crude France (15 million 

 gallons), Germany (3 million gallons), Belgium, 

 Cuba ; naphthas England, France, Belgium, 

 Germany ; illuminating Germany, Belgium, 

 Great Britain, Holland, Italy (66, 32, 25, 12, 

 and 10 million gallons respectively), and other 

 countries in exceedingly diverse proportions. 

 Animal and vegetable oils went mostly to Great 

 Britain, except lard-oil, which went to the 

 British colonies, and fish-oils, partly to France, 

 and essential oils (Germany, 163 ; England, 

 77). Oil-cake: British Empire. Provisions: 

 Bacon and hams Great Britain (34 million 

 dollars), Germany, Cuba, Belgium; of the ex- 

 ported beef, Great Britain took over 2 mill- 

 ion dollars, and the American Continent and 

 West Indies, with Germany, the Low Coun- 

 tries, and France, the remainder; butter West 

 Indies, Great Britain (413), Germany (39), 

 Japan (19), South America; of the cheese, 

 Great Britain received the great bulk (11 mill- 

 ion dollars), while Germany took 84 thousand 

 dollars' worth, and America the rest ; con- 

 densed milk went chiefly to England and the 

 colonies, and a portion to Japan ; smoked fish 

 Hayti (467), French and Dutch West Indies, 

 British Provinces, Cuba; fresh fish Cuba (72) ; 

 pickled fish Hayti and San Domingo, Austra- 

 lia, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick ; other 

 cured fish England (1,123), Hong-Kong (440), 

 Australia (177), Cuba (80), Germany (53), 

 France (42), Hayti (30) ; lard Germany (48 

 million Ibs.), Great Britain (50 million Ibs.), 

 Belgium (15 million Ibs.), Cuba (13 million Ibs.), 

 France (10 million Ibs.), Colombia, Brazil, 

 Netherlands (over 4 million Ibs. each) ; pre- 

 served meats England (542), France (155), and 

 West Indies; oysters England (99), Canada 

 (50), Australia (20), Germany (7) ; pork Eng- 

 land (1,318), and Hayti (1,071) ; vegetables- 

 Cuba and West Indies. Quicksilver: Hong- 

 Kong (1,117), Mexico (365), Australia, Japan, 

 South America. Cotton-seed : Great Britain. 

 Clover-seed, etc. : England and Scotland (698), 

 Germany (424). Tallow: England (4,561), 

 France (951), Germany (304), Venezuela (221), 

 Netherlands, Italy, Belgium. Leaf tobacco : 

 Germany (59 million Ibs.), Great Britain (Sft 

 million Ibs.), France (28 million Ibs.), Italy 

 (22 million Ibs.), Spain (21 million Ibs.), Hol- 

 land (15 million Ibs.), Belgium (11 million Ibs.), 

 Austria (3 million Ibs.). Lumber of different 

 kinds found the greatest average demand in 

 Cuba and England, and whole timber in Ger- 

 many and England. Wool to the value of 203 

 thousand dollars was taken to Canada and 

 England. 



