Marc 1 ! 1897.] IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE. 433 



Imports of Grain and Flour. 



The imports of grain and flour during 1896 represented in 

 value a total of nearly 53,000,000/., whereof not much short of 

 31,000,000/. was paid for wheat and wheat flour. Maize imports 

 were valued at 9,400,000/., and other grains formed a smaller 

 proportion of the whole. The details are shown as under for 

 the past two years : — 



Description. 



Quantities. 



Values. 



1895. 



1896. 



1895. 



1896. 



Wheat 



Wheat meal and flour - 



Barley 



Oats - 



Peas - 



Beans - 



Maize - 



Other kinds of corn and 

 meal. 



Cwts. 

 81,749,955 

 18,368,410 

 23,618,867 

 15,528,310 

 2,422,851 

 4,130,538 

 33,944,350 



Cwts. 

 70,027,880 

 21,293,220 

 22,476,702 

 17,585,130 

 3,018,357 

 3,012,990 

 51,772,100 



22,531,176 

 7,679,013 

 5,538,405 

 3,723,465 



693,828 

 1,079,780 

 7,808,860 



668,766 



& 



21,678,704 

 9,216,048 

 5,703,318 

 4,225,576 

 852,465 

 837,417 

 9,423,554 

 855,615 



Total 







49,723,293 



52,792,097 



The most remarkable increase occurs in maize, the receipts of 

 which were 50 per cent, more than the quantities of 1895, 

 bringing up the total to a larger figure than has before been 

 recorded, or some 8,000,000 cwts. in excess of the receipts of 

 1890, the year in which, previously to 1896, the arrivals of maize 

 reached their maximum. Of the total of 52,000,000 cwts , more 

 than half came from the United States, but some 16,000,000 cwts. 

 came from Argentina, a country which sent less than half this 

 amount in 1895 and only 334,0*00 cwts. in 1894. 



The supplies of wheat arriving in the past year were less on 

 the whole than in 1895, and practically at the same level as 

 in 1894. Those of flour were greater, but taken together, at 

 the equivalent in grain, the aggregate supply of foreign bread 

 stuffs was less than in 1895 by about 7.700,000 cwts. The 

 arrivals of wheat in grain showed a more than usual variation in 

 their source under the circumstances of the year. The Russian, 

 Argentine, and Indian quotas were each of them smaller than 

 last year by amounts representing a reduction of 25 per cent., 56 

 per cent., and 76 per cent, respectively, thus making up a total 

 drop of nearly 19,000,000 cwts., while the Australasian supply 

 being nearly altogether absent, added another 3,500,000 cwts. 

 to . the deficit. Against this the United States supplied an 

 excess rather more than equal to the Australasian shortage, 

 and Koumania, Canada, and some other exporting countries 

 by their liberal consignments of grain reduced by more 

 than a third the falling off from the other three countries. 



