376 



Agricultural irade of India. 



after September, 1900, was not sufficient to efface the traces of 

 famine which were very apparent during the earlier part of 

 the year. The continued presence of the plague in epidemic 

 form also affected trade to a considerable extent. 



The agricultural conditions of the country materially 

 reduced the export of food grains. The trade in wheat 

 practically ceased, and only 50,000 cwts. were exported. 

 This figure stands in striking contrast with those 

 of previous years. In 1895-6, for instance, the export 

 amounted to ten million cwts., though in each of the next two 

 seasons the quantity was only about two million cwts.; in 

 1898-9 the exports again increased to 19 J- million cvvt., and 

 then fell to less than 9! millions in 1899- 1900. The quantity 

 of the other food grains (mainly millet and pulse) exported 

 from India in 1900-1901 was also exceedingly small, but the 

 trade in these grains is comparatively of little importance. 



It is interesting to note that only a trifling" fraction of the 

 grain required for the famine-stricken tracts was drawn from 

 places outside India. The imports of grain and pulse last 

 year did not reach 1,960,000 cwts., and yet this quantity was 

 greater than in the preceding year by over 440,000 cwts. Even 

 in the famine years of 1896-7 and 1897-8 the corresponding 

 imports averaged only 1,080,000 cwts., and the normal import 

 trade is only 60,000 cwts. 



The most important seeds which form the bulk of the 

 Indian oilseed trade — viz., linseed, rapeseed, and sesamum 

 seed — are subject to the same climatic influence as wheat 

 because they are cultivated in the same regions and under 

 similar conditions. The quantity exported in 1 900-1 amounted 

 to barely 11,000,000 cwts., the lowest figure reached since 

 1882, when the crops also failed But although the export 

 was small last year, the prices for linseed and rapeseed ruled 

 high, and the aggregate value of the trade was greater than 

 in several seasons when the quantity exported has been much 

 larger. 



One result of the failure of the monsoon was indirectly 

 indicated by the unprecedented export of hides, which 

 amounted to 14,650,000 during the year. An almost equal 

 number of skins of smaller animals other than horned cattle 



