538 Twenty Years' Wheat Imports. [dec, 



taken ; and the British Gazette price in the calendar years 

 1 889-1 903 has been added for comparison : — 



Table II. — Area, Production, and Export of Wheat in India, and 

 Gazette Price of British Wheat. 









Exports in Following Year. 



British 



Years 











Gazette 



ending 



Area. 



Production, 







Price of 



3 1st March. 







Total. 



1 0 U nited 



Wheat per 







Kingdom. 



Quarter. 







Tn mi n n < 



Thousands 



Thousands 



s. d. 





of Acres. 



of Cwt. 



of Cwt. 



of Cwt. 



1 889- 1 890 



24,77^ 



122,460 



14,320 



9,271 



31 11 



1 890-1 89 1 



26,576 



137,520 



3°,307 



13,866 



37 0 



1891-1892 



24,482 



110,700 



14,973 



9,926 



30 3 



I 892-1 893 



26,429 



143,860 



12,157 



7,429 



26 4 



1 893-1 894 



26,778 



135,420 



6,890 



5,088 



22 10 



1 894-1 895 



25,994 



125,586 



10,004 



7,736 



23 1 



1895-1896 



23,242 



110,219 



i,9H 



1,506 



26 2 



1 896-1 897 



19,024 



97,857 



2,393 



1,079 



30 2 



1 897-1 898 



22,954 



133,735 



19,520 



10,674 



34 0 



1898-1899 



23,923 



126,792 



9,704 



6,549 



25 8 



1899-1900 



17,183 



97,394 



5o 



7 



26 11 



1900-1901 



22,922 



I35,3H 



7,322 



4,879 



26 9 



1 90 1 -1 902 



23,447 



121,270 



10,292 



8,894 



28 1 



I 902- 1 903 



23,092 



155,322 



25,911 



19,733 



26 9 



I 903-1904 



27,773 



187,750 









There are in this table three years in which the exports were 

 unusually heavy, viz., the financial years 1 890-1, 1897-8, and 

 1902-3. In the first two of these years the price of wheat 

 in Europe, owing mainly to shortages in the Russian or 

 American crop of the previous season, was much above the 

 average, and the Indian production was little more than 

 normal, while in 1902-3 the Gazette price was under the 

 average of the period and the Indian production was excep- 

 tionally heavy. Apart from the last two years, the largest 

 harvest was in 1892-3 ; but owing to the low value then current, 

 India apparently preferred to consume more of it at home. 

 The smallest exports, on the other hand, were in 1895-6, 1896-7, 

 and 1 899- 1 900, all corresponding to years of very low produc- 

 tion ; the price in 1896-7 was, it is true, comparatively high, 

 but there was clearly no wheat available for export. In another 

 year, 1891-2, the preceding harvest had also been poor, but 

 the price was sufficiently high to draw out an export above the 

 average. It may, therefore, safely be concluded that the price 



