NERICULRURAL, DMIPORRS OF DHE UNETED STATES. 81 

~ 
speculators who had bought the wool brought it to the fair to 
re-sell. The actual diminution in the quantity of wool must 
be ascribed to the shearing and washing, to the weather, and 
to the diminution of production. 
The quantity of wool put on the market in 1899 was 
8,326 packs of 240 lbs., as compared with 9,741 packs in 1898, 
and 11,770 packs in 1897. The considerable increase which 
has taken place in wool prices generally is well illustrated by 
the following table, which shows the prices obtained for 
different qualities at the Fair during the past three years :— 

Per Pack of 240 lbs. 

QUALITY. | 1899. 1898. 1897. 

From— To— From— To— | From— To— 












| Extra fine - - 13 © & 
: Fine - - || 10 ® z IO I0 5 1) 3} Serome2 1 3 © 7 HS ©) 
Medium- - - 8 16 0 © @ i 70 7 7 idk BD Fi 2 7 2 © 
Ordinary - - 617, 6 7 EQ) 94 § 23 ® 617 6 4 12 0 6 00 


AGRICULTURAL IMPORTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
The agricultural imports of the United States, which con- 
sist chiefly of sugar, coffee, hides and skins, wool, silk, 
vegetable fibres, fruits, tea, tobacco, and wines, had an average 
annual value during the five years ending June 30, 1894-08, of 
£,70,823,000. Two commodities alone, viz., sugar and coffee, 
account for nearly one-half of this sum, and the countries 
which contribute most tothe supply of these two products are 
naturally the leading factors in theimport trade. Brazil, which 
furnished two-thirds of the coffee imported into the United 
States, heuded the list with a total export of £12,420,0co 
whilst Cuba, the principal source of the sugar puchased,ranked 
G 
