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



Chili. During the past five years the average yearly export of 

 barley from the United States to this country has exceeded one 

 million cwts. The annual supplies of barley from Chili have 

 shown a progressive increase since 1890, the maximum yearly 

 consignment from this source having been 980,400 cwts. last 

 year. 



An approximate view of the relation of the net imports of 

 barley to the total supply of that grain available for all purposes 

 in the United Kingdom may be obtained from the table below, 

 which shows the average annual supply from all sources for 

 successive periods of three years since 1885. In estimating the 

 amount of home-grown barley entering into the annual supply 

 it has been assumed that the quantity available in a calendar 

 year would be made up of one-third of the crop harvested in 

 that year and two-thirds of the production of the previous year. 



Periods. 



Average 

 Annual 

 Acreage. 



Average 

 Annual 

 Supply from 



Home 

 Production. 



Average 

 Annual 

 Net Imports. 



Average 

 Annual 

 Total Supply 

 available 



for all 

 Purposes. 



Per-centage 

 of 



Net Imports 

 to 



Total Supply. 





Acres. 



Qrs. 



Qrs. 



Qrs. 





1886-88 



2,309,171 



9,593,923 



4,579,673 



14,173,596 



32-3 



1887-89 



2,270,746 



9,233,395 



4,923,468 



14,157,064 



34-8 



1888-90 



2,286,090 



9,283,861 



5,151,296 



14,435,157 



35-7 



1889-91 



2,297,505 



9,654,695 



4,792,498 



14,447,193 



33-2 



1890-92 



2,265,709 



9,824,896 



4,500,280 



14,325,176 



31-5 



1891-93 



2,249,194 



9,677,996 



5,078,890 



14,756,886 



34-4 



1892-94 



2,239,002 



9,246,753 



6,359,991 



15,606,744 



40-8 



1893-95 



2,280,892 



9,193,703 



7,231,196 



16,424,899 



44-0 



The influence of the droughty season of 1893 on the foreign 

 supply, to which attention has already been directed, is very 

 apparent in the figures shown in the above table. But omitting 

 the years affected by the exceptional circumstances of that 

 season, there would seem to have been since 1885 no develop- 

 ment of foreign competition in the barley trade of this country 

 so far as concerns the volume of imported grain. It is to be 

 observed, however, that, although there has been until quite 

 recent years relatively little or no expansion in the supply of 

 foreign barley, one important change which has been in progress 

 during the past twenty years has been the diversion of the 

 import trade towards these centres of production whence the 

 cheaper varieties of barley are now obtained ; a notable instance 

 of this being the steady rise in the imports from Russia, and the 

 decline of the trade with the countries of Western Europe, 

 which is illustrated in the table on page 116. 



An examination of the declared values of the barley received 

 from various countries shows that the average value of the 

 Russian grain has been lower, as a rule, than that from any 



