610 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



ress of exportation and illustrates the rapidity of increase in volume and 

 the wonderful change in the character of the export trade : 



Comparison of cotton exports with those of breadstuffs and animal products. 



Years. 



Cotton 

 unmauufac- 

 tured. 



Per 



cent. 



Breads tuffs. 



Per 



cent 



A T\ i m a 1 a tin r? 



Per 



cent. 



_ . 

 xotai 

 exports of 

 agriculture. 



Per 



cent. 



1830 . . 



?*J J, o74, boo 



61. 7 



?(, 071, 767 



14. 7 



$2, 533, 318 



5. 3 



$48, 095, 184 



82. 18 



1840* .. 



t)O t O/U, OU / 



69. 



lo, Oo5, 920 



14. 6 



3, 065, 719 



3. 3 



92, 548, 067 



82. 93 



1850 . 



17 1 CiQA ftl ft 



66. 3 



1 O Afifi CAA 



16, Ooo, soy 



12. 



10, 667, 438 



9. 8 



108, 605, 713 



80. 51 



1860 . 



ini qa<! kkz. 

 lyl, tSUO, uOD 



74. 8 



24, 422, a 10 



9. 5 



20, 402, 812 



8. 



256, 560, 972 



81. 14 



1870 . . . 



9->7 no? a^A 



62. 9 



72, 250, 933 



20. 



33, 049, 268 



9. 2 



361, 188. 483 



79. 34 



1871 ... 



218, 327, 109 



59. 3 



79, 381, 187 



21.5 



42, 172, 961 



11.4 



368. 466, Oil 



77. 07 



1872 ... 



180, 684, 595 



49. 



84, 586, 273 



22. 9 



68, 678, 144 



18. 6 



368, 796, 625 



77. 41 



1873 ... 



227, 243, 0G9 



50.8 



98, 743, 151 



22.1 



89, 605, 570 



20.1 



446^ 900', 004 



77! 69 



1874 ... 



211, '223, 580 



42.1 



161,198, 864 



32. 2 



90, 560, 332 



18.1 



501, 371, 501 



79. 16 



1875 ... 



190. 638, 625 



44.3 



111, 458, 065 



25.9 



91, 555,115 



21.3 



430, 306, 570 



76. 95 



1876 ... 



192, 659, 262 



42.2 



131, 181, 555 



28.8 



98, 434, 230 



21.6 



456,113,515 



76. 67 



1877 ... 



171, 118, 508 



37.2 



117, 806, 476 



25.6 



125, 679, 800 



27.3 



459, 734, 148 



72. 63 



1878 ... 



180, 031, 484 



33.6 



181, 777, 841 



33.9 



134, 080, 874 



25.0 



536, 192, 873 



77. 07 



1879 ... 



162, 304, 250 



29.7 



210, 355, 528 



38.5 



134, 779, 947 



24.7 



546, 476, 703 



78. 12 



1880 ... 



211, 535, 905 



30.8 



288, 036, 835 



42.0 



150, 533. 442 



21.9 



685, 961, 091 



83. 25 



1881 ... 



247, 695, 746 



33.9 



270, 332, 519 



37.0 



175, 584, 7G0 



24.0 



730, 394. 943 



82. 63 



1882 ... 



199,812, 644 



36.2 



182, 670, 528 

 208, 040, 850 



33.1 



134, 323, 940 



24.3 



552,219,819 



75.31 



1883 ... 



247, 328, 721 



39.9 



33.6 



122, 513, 653 



19.8 



619, 269, 449 



77. 00 



Total 



domestic 

 export3. 



$58, 524, 878 

 111,660,561 

 134, 900, 213 

 316, 242, 423 

 455, 208, 341 

 478, 115, 2H2 

 476, 421, 478 

 575, 227, 017 

 603. 339, 368 

 559, 237, 638 

 594, 917, 715 

 632, 980, 854 

 695, 749. 930 

 699, 538, 742 

 823, 946, 353 

 883, 925, 947 

 733, 239, 732 

 804, 223, 632 



* Year ended September 30. 



From 1861 to 1866 breadstuffs realized more thau cotton, for obvious 

 reasons. 



In 1878 the value of breadstuffs aloue exceeded that of cotton. The 

 kingly plant had been distanced for the first time in a fair race. The 

 wants of the stomach were greater than those of the back. In the three 

 following years similar superiority in the exports occurred. The bad 

 harvests of 1881, reducing products and raising prices temporarily, 

 changed the relative values of these classes of exports for two years 

 past. So we may say that while cotton brought four times as much 

 foreign exchange as was obtained from grain fifty years ago, grain is 

 now a more potent factor in our foreign trade than cotton, and has been 

 worth more in exchanges for the past seven years ; that is, the exports 

 of breadstuffs have averaged $208,431,511 per annum since 1876, and of 

 cotton $202,832,465. Thus either cotton or bread separately represent 

 more than four times the aggregate values of all agricultural exports 

 prior to 1830. 



This comparison, so favorable to cereals, is no disparagement to cot- 

 ton, the product of an industry which cannot be extended more rapidly 

 except by a loss in value. The experiment has been tried with disas- 

 trous results, an increase of over a million bales in a single year having 

 reduced the value of the crop $45,000,000. The extension can be profit- 

 ably made only by keeping pace with the gradually increasing con- 

 sumption of the world. 



Up to 1860 cotton far surpassed in export values both bread and meat 

 products, either^ taken separately or together, and in no year did the 

 sum of the latter equal the value of the former. But the experience of 

 the four years following, when the absence from rural and other indus- 

 tries of one to two million men, and the necessity for ample supplies of 

 bread and meat, for soldier and civilian, stimulated the invention and 

 energy of manufacturers of agricultural implements, and furnished abun- 

 dant supplies, not only for camp and farm and city market, but for ex- 

 portation ; so that in four years of war and waste there was exported a 

 value of $291,074,078 in breadstuffs, and $228,912,232 in animals and 

 their products, a surplus of bread and meat of about $130,000,000 per 

 annum, a sum greater than any annual exports of cotton up to 1856. 



