1920.] 



Imports of Food. 



1239 



Rabbits 271,339 cwt. of dead rabbits were imported durirg 1919' 



of which 270,491 cwt. were frozen, and 848 cwt. fresh. In the previous 

 year the quantity was 516,542 cwt., all of it frozen. The pre-war figure 

 (1913) was 481,964 cwt. frozen, and 43,614 cwt. fresh. Practically the 

 whole of our supplies of frozen rabbits, as before the War, was received 

 from Australia. 



DAIRY PRODUCE AND ECCS. 



Imports of Dairy Produce, Margarine and Eggs. 



Description. 



Quantities. 



Value. 















■ 



1919. 



1918. 



1913- 



1919. 



1918. 



1913- 





cwt. 



cwt. 



cwt. 



£ 



£ 



£ 



Butter 



1,558,172 



1,578,658 



4,139,028 



19,843,964 



19.769,738 



24,083,658 



Margarine . . 



459,369 



301,650 



1,518,297 



2,229,838 



1,563,405 



3,917,701 



Cheese 



2,124,715 



2,357,103 



2,297,340 



15,219,178 



15,905,858 



7,035,039 



Milk, condensed — 













89,984 



Unsweetened . . 



1,033,385 



900,696 



50,008 



4,087,168 



3,495,768 



Sweetened 



2,150,535 



1,666,994 



1,202,207 



11,835,076 



9,035,173 



2,095,437 





Great 



Great 



Great 











hundreds. 



hundreds. 



hundreds. 









Eggs 



5.644,395 



2,656,415 



21,579,950 



8,613,326 



4,621,649 



9,590,602 



Butter. — The figures in the above table show a practically stationary 

 import trade, both in quantity and value, for the years 191 9 and 191^, 

 though a big drop on the pre-war figures. It is noteworthy that the bulk 

 of the produce came from distant parts of the world, 318,872 cwt. 

 being declared from New Zealand, 267,675 cwt. from the Argentine, 

 216,495 cwt. from the United States and 214,689 cwt. from Victoria. 

 Denmark, which before the War was by far our principal countr}- of 

 import, sending us in 1913 no less than 1,706,759 cwt. (or more than 

 the total quantity imported in 191 9) only exported 290,291 cwt., a 

 considerable increase, however, on the 1918 figure of 40,327 cwt. Russia 

 exported 6,954 cwt. as against none in 191 8 and 1917, but 751,414 

 cwt. in 1 91 3, when she was the second largest countn^ of import in 

 this commodity. 



Cheesd.^ — The quantities of cheese imported recorded in the table 

 above show very little drop as a result of war conditions, although 

 in regard^to value there is an increase of 116 per cent, between 191 3 and 

 1919. 



There was considerable change in the countries whence we re- 

 ceive our supplies. The New Zealand trade increased frcm 547,182 

 cwt. to 1,239,553 cwt., while a decrease from 1,293,768 cwt. to 647,212 

 cwt. is to be noted in the case of Canada, and frcm 22,449 cwt. to 

 19,856 cwt. in the case of the United States. The Netherlands figures 

 show^ a decrease from 291,895 cwt. to 79,21 7 cwt. It may be stated that 

 before the War Canada was easily the leading country of import, supply- 

 ing us with more than half of our total imports, Is'^ew Zealand being 

 second and the Netherlands third. 



Eg^gs.- — The number of eggs imported during 1919 was 5,644,395 

 great hundreds, as against 2,656,415 great hundreds in 1918 and 

 21,579,950 great hundreds in 191 3. The values of these quantities were 

 declared, respectively, at ;£8,6i3,326, ;/;4,62T ,649, and ;^9,59o,6o2. The 

 figures show that the importation of eggs, which decreased very con- 



