50 BULLETIN 296, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



exports were lowest, 586,000 pounds, immediately preceded the high 

 record year of 1913, when 4,897,000 pounds were exported. 



Lumber, including boards, planks, deals, and other sawed lumber, 

 ranked third in importance, averaging 16,811,000 feet, valued at 

 $345,000. There has been a marked decrease in the last three years. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



Exports of domestic merchandise for the 14 years 1901-1914 aver- 

 aged 1,774 million dollars yearly, 88.5 per cent of which was carried 

 in vessels and 11.5 per cent in cars and other land vehicles. Of the 

 domestic exports shipped in vessels, averaging 1,570 million dollars 

 annually, steamships carried 97.2 per cent and sailing vessels 2.8 per 

 cent. American steamships carried 7.3 per cent and foreign 89.9 per 

 cent. American sailing vessels carried 0.6 per cent and foreign 2.2 

 per cent. American steamships carried 4.8 per cent of this trade 

 in 1901, 9.2 per cent in 1906, and 7.8 per cent in 1914. 



There has been a general downward trend in the proportion of 

 sea-borne domestic exports carried by sailing ships, ranging in the 

 case of American ships from 1.2 per cent in 1901 to 0.34 per cent in 

 1912, and in the case of foreign ships from 4.9 per cent in 1902 to 

 slightly less than 1 per cent in 1914. 



Total imports for the 14 fiscal years 1901-1914 average 1,319 mil- 

 lion dollars yearly, 93.5 per cent of which came in vessels and 6.5 

 per cent in cars and other land vehicles. Of the imports arriving by 

 sea, averaging 1,234 million dollars annually, steamships brought 

 98.1 per cent and sailing ships 1.9 per cent. American steamships 

 carried 11.5 per cent and foreign 86.6 per cent; American sailing 

 vessels carried 0.7 per cent and foreign 1.2 per cent. The proportion 

 brought by American steamships was highest in 1905, amounting 

 to 14.6 per cent, and lowest in 1910, amounting to 9.6 per cent. 



The sailing ship has steadily diminished in importance as a carrier 

 in the import trade. Thus the percentage of sea-borne imports ar- 

 riving in American sailing ships fell from 1.9 per cent in 1901 to 

 0.32 per cent in 1914, while the proportion carried in foreign sailing 

 ships in 1914 amounted to just one-tenth of the 2.8 per cent carried 

 in 1903. 



PUBLICATIONS OF U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RELATING 

 TO AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 



Bureau of Statistics bulletins: 



No. 29. Methods and routes for exporting farm products. 



No. 3S. Crop-export movement and port facilities on the Atlantic and Gulf 



coasts. 

 No. 51. Foreign Irade of the United States in forest products, 1851-190S. 



