The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-01-28
VAST EXPORT TRADE.
Marvellous Growth During the
Last Century.
FARMS FURNISH SlX1Y-rWOPERCEyl
With One Exception, 1900 Witnesses
the Largest Annual 'Expor.a-
ti0n of Farm Produce
On Record.

ON Record.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2S.-Mr. Franz
ii. Hitchcock, chief of the section of for
eign markets of the agricultural depart
ment has just issued his annual review
Of the trade Of the United States in agri
cultural products. His report says:
''The fiscal year 1900 brought to q
close n century Of marvellous development
in the history of United States commerce
In 1900, n century ago. the total value OF
the merchandise imported and exported
In our trade with foreign countries waA
considerably less than quarter of bill
lion dollars. The value Of the goods ex
changed during the past fiscal year reach
ed nearly two and quarter billions fai
exceeding all previous records. Since the
opening of the century our commerce
with the rest of the world has increased
more than twelvefold.
ut was chiefly in the export trade tina
the enormous growth of the century oc
Cured. Our domestic exports during
1900. with recorded value of $780,.
7G3,571, were over 40 times as large as
in 1900. The total imports for 1900, on
the other hand, amounting in value tG
$S49.941 1874. were less than 10 times as
large as in 1900.
Compared with the value of our i'm.
ports for 1900 that Of our domestic ex.
ports showed m excess of $500. .S22, ,3S7.
or the merchandise imported from for
eign countries during the fiscal year 1900
about 40 per cent consisted of agricul-
tural products. These products had an
aggregate value of 1920, 1363S1, exceed.
ing by almost $65 GOO the record OF
the year before. Hides, silk and wool
were the leading factors in the growth,
although vegetable fbers, sugar and to-
bacco also showed important gains. The
six items mentioned contributed nearly
100000, 900 to the increase in value.
products Of United States agriculture
were marketed abroad in the fiscal year
1900 to the value of SS44, ,GlG,530, form
ing about G2 per cent Of the total domes-
tic exports. With the single exception of
1898 TIE past year witnessed the largest
annual export trade in farm produce on
record. The value attained came within
S15,00o.00O of the phenomenal figures fol-
1SJSand surpassed those for 1899 by more
than S50,OC0.G00.
"a comparison Of the value Of our agri-
cultural exports for 1900 with that Of our
agricultural imports shows that the for
mcr exceeded the latter by S42l .4S0.1 LID.
The export value was slightly more than
doubl" the amount of the import value.
Among the agricultural imports OF the
United States for tie fiscal year 1900 the
leading items, named in the order of val
ne. We're sugar, hides mud skins, coffee,
silk, vegetable tibcrs, wool, fruits aud
nuts, tobacco, tea, wines. vegetable oils
and cocoa. These T. items comprised IN
value nearly 30 per cent of our entire i'm
port trade in the products Of fore, gu
agriculture during the year.
"Our principal agricultural exports in
1900. as in previous years, were bread
stuffs, cotton and meat products, these,
with live animals, tobacco, oil cake vege-
table oils, fruits and nuts, dairy products
and seeds, comprising over 95 per cent of
onr total exports of farm produce during
1900"