108 
BULLETIN 1399, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
These figures may be expressed in the form of index numbers of 
volume, since the price is constant, as in table 100. 
Table 100. — German imports of American agricultural products, index numbers of 
volume, base 1913 
Commodity group 
1913 
1921 
1922 
1923 
1924 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
02 
183 
186 
80 
130 
"1 
84 
107 
137 
99 
38 
134 
81 
30 
134 
55 
od f:tS. . . 
131 
tuffs 
115 
Feedstuff's .._•_.. 
41 
Tobacco 
188 
TotaJ 
100 
100 
105 
164 
75 
104 
61 
92 
78 
Total, less cotton 
109 
The heavy imports of these commodities in 1921 were followed 
by a drop in 1922 to 75 per cent of the volume in 1913, with a further 
decline in 1923. In 1924, because of increased imports of cotton, 
wheat, and wheat flour, the index number rose again to 78. Since 
cotton forms so large a part of these imports the index number of 
imports of other commodities is given separately, showing that the 
volume of German imports of other American agricultural commodi- 
ties has in the past three years been practically equal to that of 
1913. 
THE GERMAN MARKETS FOR SPECIFIC COMMODITIES 
It appears from the above tables that the war and postwar eco- 
nomic conditions have affected the German markets for different 
classes of commodities in different ways. It is therefore necessary 
in an analysis of the situation to consider each commodity group 
separately in arriving at conclusions regarding future German 
market conditions. 
COTTON" 
Previous to the war Germany was a large importer of raw cotton 
and an exporter of cotton goods. The number of spindles in Ger- 
many on March 1, 1914, was 11,404,944, according to estimates by 
the International Federation of Master Cotton Spinners. As a 
result of the war the number of spindles was reduced to 9.400,000 on 
February 1, 1920, chiefly by the loss of 2,000,000 spindles, or 17.5 
per cent of the total, in the ceded territory of Alsace-Lorraine. 
This loss of spindles is proportionately greater than the loss of 
opulation, which in the same period was approximately 10 per cent. 
t appears from Tables 96, 97, and 100 that in 1924 Germany paid 
m actual gold value 830,000,000 more for cotton than in 1913. hut 
that this sum paid for only 55 per cent of the quantity used in 
1913. 
In 1913 Germany obtained 77.3 per cent of her cotton from the 
United States; in 1923, 77 per cent; and in 1924, 79.2 per cent; so 
that the source of supply has not been materially shifted. 
The decline of the German cotton-manufacturing industry, aside 
from the loss of spindles to France as noted above, is owing both to a 
decreased domestic demand resulting from the impoverishment of 
the people and to the loss of an important export trade. Germany 
since the war has become a net importer of cotton goods, and it is 
significant that the chief source of supply next to the United King- 
dom is Alsace-Lorraine. 
I 
