Agricultural  Competition. 
153 
Barley. 
Russia  has  long  been  the  most  important  source  of  our 
imported  barley  supply,  followed  by  Turkey  in  the  great 
majority  of  years,  but  occasionally  by  Roumania,  the  United 
States  being  usually  fourth,  and  occasionally  third,  through 
changing  rank  with  Roumania. 
Oats. 
In  supplies  of  oats  Russia  again  has  long  taken  the  leading 
position,  though  in  1908  there  was  a falling  off  in  her  ship- 
ments to  this  country,  and  Argentina  for  the  first  time  ( ame  to 
the  top.  The  latter  country  has  only  recently  become  an 
important  contributor  to  our  imports  of  oats,  1907  having 
been  the  first  year  in  which  we  received  any  considerable 
quantity  from  that  source.  The  quantity  had  not  previously 
reached  half  a million  hundredweights,  whereas  in  1907  it  rose 
to  1,645,700,  and  in  1908  to  5,235,800.  Previously  Germany, 
Roumania,  and  the  United  States  had  changed  places  in  the 
order  of  exports  of  oats  to  this  country  in  different  years, 
Canada  occasionally  coming  in  as  a fourth,  and  New  Zealand 
once  in  ten  years  instead.  Sweden,  at  one  time  an  important 
contributor,  has  fallen  into  an  insignificant  one  for  some  years 
past. 
Pulse. 
Our  imports  of  beans  and  peas  are  on  only  a small  scale, 
and  they  are  made  up  of  little  contributions  from  a great  num- 
ber of  sources,  the  supplies  from  some  of  them  being  inconstant. 
Thirty  countries  are  in  the  list  for  beans,  and  thirty-two  for 
peas,  although  our  imports  of  the  former  have  not  reached 
2,000,000  qr.  for  several  years,  and  those  of  the  latter  have 
lately  fallen  below  that  quantity.  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  India 
are  usually  the  largest  shippers  of  beans  to  this  country,  while 
India,  the  Netherlands,  Germany,  and  Canada  send  us  the 
greatest  quantities  of  peas. 
Maize. 
Up  to  1901  the  United  States  had  supplied  us  with  a much 
greater  quantity  of  maize  than  any  other  country.  Roumania 
in  most  years,  but  Russia  occasionally,  standing  second  in  this 
connection.  Since  that  date,  however,  except  in  one  year, 
Argentina  has  been  the  greatest  contributor.  It  was  not  until 
1895  that  Argentina  began  to  export  maize  extensively,  but  the 
progress  has  been  rapid  since  that  year.  Roumania  still  sends 
us  large  quantities  in  good  harvest  years,  but  is  a very  irregular 
source  of  supply,  as  also  is  Russia.  Although  the  production 
of  maize  in  the  United  States  has  increased  enormously  in  the 
