March 1895.] IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE. 375 



Hay and Straw Imports in 1894. 



The importation of hay in 1894 was 254,000 tons; that of 

 1893, following on the drought of that year, had been 263,000 

 tons, against only 61,000 tons in 1892. During the early part 

 of 1894 considerable supplies continued to be received — a total 

 of 185,000 tons arriving in the six months ending June 1894. 



Four- fifths of the imports, however, of 1893 came in the 

 second half of that year, over 200,000 tons arriving after the 

 30th of June, whereas in the latter half of 1894 the arrivals of 

 foreign and colonial hay in the United Kingdom were 69,000 

 tons only, or less than half the quantity of the first six months, 

 and not much over a third of the receipts in the same portion of 

 1893. 



The monthly receipts during 1894 fell off rapidly towards the 

 end of the year, and this will appear from the following contrast 

 of the arrivals of each month in the past three years : — 



Month. 



1892. 



1893. 



1894. 





Tons. 



Tons. 



Tons. 



January . - - _ _ 



3,135 



8,294 



31,967 



February . . _ _ _ 



4,283 



8,221 



26,745 



March - - - - - 



5,439 



13,575 



41,132 



April . . - _ _ 



4,346 



13,394 



35,445 



May _ . - - . 



4,404 



10,229 



32,998 



June - _ - - _ 



4,439 



9,025 



16,448 



July „ . - - . 



3,634 



18,634 



14,949 



August - - - . - 



2,472 



38,408 



18,880 



September - - - - - 



4,748 



35,586 



9,951 



October - . - _ . 



7,412 



29,242 



8,981 



November ----- 



7,676 



41,088 



9,010 



December ----- 



9,249 



37,354 



7,708 





61,237 



263,050 



254,214 



The countries whence our supplies both of hay and straw 

 came in each of the last two years are shown in the table below. 



It will be observed that the figures of the past year, when 

 compared with 1893, exhibit a great fall in the receipts of 

 " Alfalfa " hay from the Argentine Republic, and also a drop of 

 over 50 per cent, in the imports of Canadian and Dutch hay. 

 Increased shipments were, however, recorded in the twelve 

 months ended December last, from the United States, and, on a 

 smaller scale, from France and Algeria. 



As regards straw, it will be seen that the increased importation 

 of 20,000 tons was mainly due to much larger shipments from 

 France and Holland than the consignments from the same sources 

 to our ports in the year of drought 1893, when both fodder and 

 litter were so scarce on the Continent of Europe. The straw 

 imports of 1894 were less by 20,000 tons than the quantity 

 received in 1892, in which year France sent across the Channel 

 42,660 tons, against 2,679 tons in 1893, and 11,605 tons last year. 



