116 



BARLEY SUPPLY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. [Sept. 1896. 



to a considerable extent by the scarcity of feeding stuffs in this 

 country owing to the effects of the drought of 1893. The 

 imports of the first six months of the year last mentioned were 

 not very much in excess of those of the corresponding periods 

 of the two previous years, the actual receipts having been 

 6,434,000 cwts., as compared with 5,097,000 cwts. and 5,908,000 

 cwts. in 1892 and 1891 respectively. But in the last six months 

 of 1893 the imports amounted to 16,400,000 cwts. ; in the 

 following half year 14,261,000 cwts. were imported, and in 

 the last six months of 1894 the receipts were 16,980,000 cwts. 

 making a total importation for that year of 31,241,000 cwts 

 The bulk of the large supply of 1894 consisted of Russian barley 

 of an average value of 13s. Id. per quarter. In this connection 

 it is, however, worthy of notice that, apart from any influence 

 that may have been exercised on the foreign supply by the 

 climatic conditions of Great Britain, there has been a remarkable 

 augmentation in the imports of Russian barley in recent years, 

 and this would seem to point to an increasing demand for this 

 cheap grain for stock-feeding and other purposes. 



Taking the average annual imports of barley in successive 

 three-year periods since 1875, the proportion per cent, of the 

 total supply contributed by Russia and other countries has 

 been as under : — 



Source. 



1875-77. 



1878-SO. 



1881-83. 



1884-86. 



1887-89. 



1890-92. 



1893-95. 



Russia 



16-6 



2S-5 



25-7 



40*5 



50'7 



41-0 



59 -(5 



Turkey, Roumania, 

 and Bulgaria. 



Other European 

 countries. 



Extra European 

 countries. 



33*1 

 41 *S 

 8*5 



16-6 

 51'1 

 8*8 



S4'3 

 85-7 

 4*3 



25*5 

 25-2 

 8-8 



21*9 

 21-7 

 5-7 



SO-8 



n°8 



16-4 



22-5 

 7*3 

 10-6 





lOO'O 



100-0 



lOO'O 



100- 0 



100-0 



100-0 



lOO'O 



From the foregoing statement it will be seen that nearly the 

 whole of the barley imported into the United Kingdom is 

 shipped from the Continent, and that in the last 10 years Russia 

 has been credited w T ith upwards of 50 per cent, of the total foreign 

 supply. This increase in the receipts of Russian barley has 

 been practically a progressive one during the past 25 years, and 

 it has been accompanied by an almost corresponding decline in 

 the aggregate imports from Germany, France, and Scandinavia, 

 which are included with Austria (whence the supplies were 

 insignificant until after 1882) under the heading of " Other 

 European countries " in the above statement. 



In the nine years 1875 to 1883 the annual exports of barley 

 from Germany to the United Kingdom were, with one exception, 

 never below a million cwts., and in five of those years they 

 fluctuated between 2 million and 3£ million cwts., or from 15 to 

 30 per cent, of our total importation from all sources ; but since 

 1883 our annual receipts of barley from German ports have ex- 



