American Agricultural Exports. 



75 



per cent., or £177,851,000, were agricultural products ; these 

 figures are the highest ever recorded, and, compared with the 

 average of the previous five years, show an increase in the 

 total of £69,276,000, and in the agricultural exports of 

 £50,755,000. The three great classes of agricultural produc- 

 tion, viz., breadstuffs, provisions, and cotton, account for 

 92 per cent, of this increase. 



The various grains and flours, which are included in the 

 largest of these three divisions under the name of breadstuffs, 

 were exported to the value of £69,562,000, as compared with an 

 average of £34,205,000 for the preceding five years. Wheat, 

 maize, and oats accounted for alargeproportionof this increase; 

 the quantity of wheat exported being especially noticeable, the 

 total shipments in the year under review representing no less 

 than 148,231,261 bushels, whereas the average for the previous 

 five years was 84,370,000 bushels. In the year 1892, how- 

 ever, 157,280,000 bushels were shipped, the highest quantity 

 ever recorded. The major portion of the export of this 

 grain was consigned to Europe, chiefly to the United Kingdom, 

 France, and Belgium. The export of maize and maize flour 

 again increased, and was in 1898 the largest hitherto 

 recorded, amounting in the past year to 212,055,000 bushels, 

 against 178,817,000 bushels in 1897, and 101,100,000 bushels 

 in 1896. The United Kingdom, Germany, and France, were 

 the principal customers for this product. Among the other 

 breadstuffs the exports of oats and oatmeal showed the 

 largest increase, amounting together to 72,784,000 bushels 

 in 1898, compared with 37,119,000 bushels in 1897. 



The export of provisions, which comprise meat and dairy 

 products, were valued in 1898 at £34,863,000, or £6,282,000 

 in excess of the average of the five years 1893-97. The 

 quantities of beef products exported were not exceptional, 

 but it may be noted that the consignments of canned beef 

 to Europe, which have been steadily declining for some 

 years, further fell to £535,000, whereas in 189 1 this item was 

 worth about £1,775,000. The decline in the canned beef 

 trade has been, however, more than compensated for by the 

 increased exports of fresh beef, which were valued last year 

 at £4,785,000, and consigned, as usual, almost exclusively 



