838 Imports of Agricultural Produce in 1909. [jan., 



IMPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE IN 1909. 



The total value of the principal articles of food imported 

 into the United Kingdom in 1909 was ^191,522,000 as 

 against ^183,955,000 in 1908, ,£188,353,000 in 1907, 

 ^181,604,000 in 1906, and an average of .£177,047,000 in the 

 three years 1 903-1 905. These figures represent the value 

 (cost, insurance, and freight), as declared to the Customs 

 officers at the port of arrival, of the grain and flour, meat and 

 animals for food, butter, cheese, eggs, condensed milk, fruit 

 and vegetables, hops, lard, and margarine, which may be 

 grouped together as agricultural food products in the sense 

 that they compete more or less directly with the home supply. 



The increase in value during the past year has been due 

 partly to the substantial rise in the price of wheat and wheat 

 flour, and partly to the somewhat larger quantities of grain 

 and grain products which have been imported, the total 

 value of the items included under the general heading of 

 grain and flour amounting to no less than ,£83,123,000, as 

 compared with ,£72,733,000 in 1908. On the other hand, the 

 value of meat (of all kinds) was less than for several years 

 past, viz., ^47,624,000, a figure which may be compared 

 with the total for 1908 of ,£49,448,000, and with the still 

 higher total of just over ,£52,000,000 in 1906. 



It may be noted that, owing to a change in the Trade and 

 Navigation Accounts, where the countries are mentioned in 

 this article the figures represent goods consigned from the 

 countries stated, and not, as in the corresponding article last 

 year, merely the goods received or shipped from the countries 

 named. 



Cattle and Beef. — The importation of live cattle into the 

 United Kingdom for food has been declining since 1905, and 

 during the past year it fell to a lower figure than in any year 

 since 1887. This was to a small extent attributable to the 

 existence of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States, in 

 consequence of which importation from certain ports was 

 prohibited during part of the year. 



The diminution in the supply of live meat, however, was 

 made up by an increase in the quantity of fresh and refriger- 

 ated beef received. This larger supply came chiefly from 



