350 Imports of Grain in the Cereal Year, [sept., 



The imports of the principal cereals in each of the past ten 

 harvest years are given in the table below : — ■ 



M OTT^PCt' V PIT" 



JTlcii V Col X Cell • 



Millions of Cwts. 



Wheat. 



Wheat-flour. 



Barley. 



Oats. 



Maize. 



1906-7 



94'7 



13-2 



19 5 



10-9 



51-7 



1905-6 



94-6 



14-4 



20-3 



i6*o 



47-1 



1904-5 



105- 1 



10-9 



21 'O 



17-2 



42-3 



1903-4 



93'i 



19-1 



3J'9 



15-2 



47-6 



1902-3 



85-1 



19*2 



25-7 



16-6 



41 *6 



1901-2 



74"7 



19-1 



23-1 



16-7 



47*2 



I 900- I 



71 - 2 



23'3 



i8-7 



22* I 



55-8 



I 899- I 900 



65-0 



21 - 6 



15-2 



19-8 



57'7 



1898-9 



67-0 



22*9 



22*9 



H'9 



57*5 



1897-8 



66-4 



20 *o 



20'3 



i5-4 



55-6 



The United States and Canada are the largest exporters of 

 wheat-flour to this country, though a number of other countries 

 participate in the trade to a small extent. During the past 

 three years, however, less flour has been purchased abroad than 

 was the case for many earlier years. The average price was 

 9s. 6d. per cwt. against 9s. io^d. last year. 



The imports of barley were less than in the preceding five 

 years, Russian and Roumanian receipts fell off, but there 

 was some compensation in the supplies from Turkey. 



A noticeable feature in the above table, however, is the 

 diminution in oats, of which only 10,884,000 cwts. were 

 received against an average of about 16,000,000 cwts. in the 

 preceding five years. The falling-off is chiefly due to smaller 

 receipts from Russia and the United States. The average price 

 of oats per quarter was 17s. 3d. in 1906-7 compared with 

 16s. 3^. in 1905-6. 



Maize was imported into this country in larger quantities 

 than has been the case since 1900-1. Russia and Rou- 

 mania, which in consequence of unfavourable harvests during 

 the past two or three years had practically ceased to contribute 

 to the supplies, again appear in the returns, Russia furnish- 

 ing 5,038,000 cwts. and Roumania 7,450,000 cwts., while 

 20,880,000 cwts. came from Argentina and 14,391,000 cwts 

 from the United States. The average price of maize was nearly 

 5s. id. per cwt., or about the same figure as in the previous year. 



In connection with the above it may be of interest to 

 reproduce a table, which has been given annually in this 



