12 BULLETIN 695, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FOREIGN TRADE SURPLUS. 



QUANTITY. 



Previous to 1895 the imports of potatoes more generally exceeded 

 the exports of domestic potatoes than they were exceeded by them, 

 but subsequent to the year mentioned the more frequent fact is an 

 excess of domestic exports over imports of potatoes. These remarks 

 apply in a consideration of the separate years, but in a consideration 

 of periods of years the imports exceed the domestic exports for every 

 group except 1866-1874. The reason why the character of the indi- 

 vidual years in later time is contradicted by the character of the 

 later groups of years is found in the comparatively large imports of 

 a few years when the production was deficient. The more common 

 fact since 1895 is that the United States is a surplus country in 

 potato production, and yet this country never had a surplus of 

 potatoes amounting to 1,000,000 bushels in any year previous to 

 1906. For that year the surplus was 1,354,000 bushels; for 1910 the 

 surplus was 2,165,000 bushels; for 1914 it was 2,866,000 bushels, and 

 for 1915 it was 3,809,000 bushels, the highest amount ever reached. 

 On the other hand, the excess of imports has run as high as 12,492,000 

 bushels in 1911, and amounted to more than 7,000,000 bushels in 

 each of the years 1901 and 1908. 



The surplus of foreign trade movement of potatoes, whether 

 surplus imports or surplus domestic exports, makes a small ratio to 

 population, in no case amounting to as much as one-tenth of 1 bushel 

 except in 1881, when the ratio of surplus imports was 0.163 of 1 

 bushel, and in 1887 and 1911, with the same ratio, 0.133 of 1 bushel. 

 These were years of extraordinary potato imports on account of defi- 

 cient production. 



VALUE OF SURPLUS. 



The value of the surplus imports of potatoes over the domestic 

 exports, found in every group of years except 1865-1874, in no 

 instance reaches an amount higher than $950,000, the average for 

 1885-1894. The average value for 1895-1904 was $160,000, and for 

 1905-1914 it was $208,000. 



PERCENTAGE OF PRODUCTION. 



In no year does the quantity of the surplus exports of domestic 

 potatoes over the imports amount to as much as 1 per cent of the 

 production, except 1.06 per cent in 1915, and in no 10-year period 

 is there a surplus of domestic exports except in 1866-1874, for which 

 period the surplus is 0.24 per cent of the production. 



The surplus imports of potatoes have run as high as 7.68 per cent 

 of the production, this figure being for 1881; but usually the per- 

 centage has been below 1. For the 10-year groups of years the sur- 



