Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1900-01-04
CEREAL EXPORTS.



The Importance of the American
farmer is not revealed in its fullest
extent until his relation to the worlds
food supply is considered That rela-
ton it may be stated Is a very inti-
mate one, as men OF all nations would
attest II the farmer should suddenly
decide to go out OF business and live
on the gains Of the past two years.
Then the old adage Half a loaf is
better .thanrnone," might find q more
literal Interpretation than in this we'll
fed age. M a
One cannot travel through the big
wheat farms of the northwest without
being wonderfully impressed with
their show Of industry and enterprise.
They give the farmer his most favor
able background. But il Is necessary
TO resort to dull statistics TO know the
part played by the agriculturists OF
the United States in guarding the
world from perpetual hunger, to say
nothing OF the American cattlemen.
To begin at once on Facts, the Amer
lean farmer is responsible for annual
exports aggregating in value $780, 00..
600 for cereal alone. This, be 1t re-
membered, is after catering to a very
heavy home demand. The largest sin.
gle item is furnish by wheat. Corn,
cornmeal and flour contribute the 9TH
er parts. Last fiscal year was a rec
ord one for -four. when 1s,4S5, 800 bar.
rels We're shipped. The number OF
bushels of wheat was 139432.S15. In
1891 the amount Of wheat was 1Gl,
100000 bushels, which Is the greatest
total OF which any account is to be
had. During 1S97-9S the exports OF
corn amounted to 20S. IA 600, which
was the record in that cereal up to
that time.
II one wishes to show the stupendous
results Of agrarian labor one should
turn to the figures given in the last
annual report Of the New York Pro-
duce Exchange, which contains export
figures since 1881, when records were
first available. Since that year the
/ value Of the cereals sent abroad from
[ the United States has footed up to
, over SIX billions OF dollars. This
means that something like 4,300,0e0,-
600 bushels OF corn and wheat have
? been sent out Of the country to supply
5 deficiencies in the food products OF
! European nations.
Al There has been a gradual develop
n
several periods of very rapid expan
sion. For instance, in the five years
8 ending with September, 1895. the
/, amount Of wheat exported was only
614,145 bushels. The output Of -four
Z in that interval was 5,241 1854 barrels
. BY 1866 the wheat exports had riser
I TO a total OF 13S 800, 600 bushels; ten
. years later they were 224,019,3Tt
bushels. doubling in the fiveyear per
- iod following
. The best prices that the farmer hal
received for his wheat came between
: 1855 and 1870, when he averaged or
) the FIVE years SLAB a bushel Tn,
y average between 1890 and 1895 wal
B. 80 cents. In 1896 he only receive.
; SIS cents for what wheat he sen
e abroad, and shipped out 40.000.O0l
: bushels, less than one-third of las
u years export total.
r An interesting study from the fie
5, ures given in the report has beei
y made of the proportion OF whea
y shipped as -four to the total sine
& 1881. In that year it reached 97.2 pc
, cent. The ratio fell rapidly until 1885,
when the percentage was only 1873
Last year It was 40.6S per cent.-N.
Mail and Express.