198 MarKETS 
decreased the sale of domestic goods and caused the holdings of 
condensed milk to accumulate in large quantities. Condensed 
milk prices depreciated rapidly throughout 1914 and reached 
the bottom in the fall of that year when financial limitations 
compelled many concerns to move their goods at any price. At 
that time the bottom prices of condensed milk were approxi- 
mately as follows: 
Sweetened condensed milk per case.......... $2.50 
Evaporated milk per case..............0000.. 1.90 
The losses suffered by this slump in the condensed milk 
market, caused by the influx of cheap foreign goods in the 
absence of a protective tariff, were enormous and caused bank- 
ruptey of numerous of the financially limited concerns. The 
outlook for the future of the industry looked very uninviting 
at best, but the situation was saved and market conditions 
reversed by the urgent food requirements of the Allied nations 
in the European war, and after the entrance of the United States 
into the war, by large orders for the American army and navy. 
The extraordinary and very urgent demand for condensed 
milk by the U. S. Government and by its allies during the war 
and the enormous demand for exports to Europe after the 
armistice, boosted the prices of this product to a level not 
attained since the Civil War. While Government regulations 
tended to hold price advances within reasonable bounds and 
while lack of shipping facilities and other factors caused tem- 
porary fluctuations downward, the price advance in general con- 
tinued until the spring of 1919, and reached the following maxi- 
mum figures per case: 
Sweetened condensed milk per case............. $9.25 
Evaporated milk, per case........... 0000s seers 6.50 
Exports and Imports.—Canned condensed milk only need 
be considered here. 
The United States Bureau of Statistics reports the following 
imports and exports of condensed milk for the years 1911 to 
1919, inclusive: 
