370 



THE IMPORT TRADE IN EGGS. 



[March 1897. 



pointed out that the bulk of the receipts from Belgian ports 

 consists of Italian and Austrian eggs, while those arriving from 

 German ports are for the most part the produce of Russia and 

 Austria-Hungary ; Italian eggs also form a large proportion of 

 the imports credited to France. Neither Belgium nor Germany 

 produce sufficient eggs to meet the demands of their own 

 populations. 





Average Number of Eggs imported annually from Ports in 



Period. 



Germany. 



France. 



Belgium. 



Russia. 



Denmark. 



Canada. 



Other 

 Countries. 





Thousands. 



Thousands. 



Thousands. 



Thousands. 



Thousands. 



Thousands. 



Thousands. 



1875-77 



119,38 L 



508,042 



58,489 





24,291 





38,275 



1878-80 



177,937 



413,088 



79,013 





35,004 





60,902 



1S31-83 



207,780 



359.69S 



176,487 





51,470 





40,655 



1884-8G 



285,014 



392,685 



246,140 



5,323 



71,828 





9,033 



1887-89 



399,889 



348,895 



203,856 



53,372 



100,783 





9,463 



1890-92 



335,253 



388,847 



227,256 



150,141 



142,176 



21,759 



16,927 



1893-95 



355,877 



359,681 



294,2S9 



204,980 



144,918 



35,555 



30,142 



1896 



35!, 60S 



SQ3,093 



269, 255 



288,740 



187,995 



60,038 



38,608 



With reference to what has been said above as to the origin 

 of the eggs arriving in this country from ports in Germany and 

 Belgium, it may be interesting to contrast the actual exports to 

 the United Kingdom of eggs produced in those countries with 

 the numbers shown to have been received in the foregoing 

 statement. In the case of Germany the average annual quantity 

 of eggs from German poultry yards shipped to the United 

 Kingdom in 1893-95 amounted to only 3 J millions, as compared 

 with the 356 millions credited to Germany in our trade returns, 

 the difference having been made up almost entirely of Russian 

 and Austro-Hungarian products in transit to this country. 

 Then, as regards Belgium, an examination of her trade statistics 

 for the same period has shown that the average annual consign- 

 ments of Belgian eggs to the United Kingdom did not exceed 

 27 millions out of the 294 millions shown in the statement, 

 the surplus having consisted for the most part of Austro- 

 Hungarian and Italian eggs. There is also a considerable transit 

 trade across France, over 30 per cent, of the eggs we received 

 in the three years 1893-95 from French ports having been 

 produced in Italy. From the results of this investigation of the 

 origin of the imports it would appear that the principal 

 contributors to our supply of foreign eggs are Russia, Austria- 

 Hungary, Italy, and France, though Denmark has also occupied 

 a prominent position in this trade in recent years. 



The average value of the eggs imported annually during the 

 past 25 years has ranged from 7%d. to just over 10Jd per dozen, 

 the maximum having been reached in 1874. The fluctuations in 



