The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1911-01-19


comforts and requirements of homes in
the United States are quit as interesting
as the subject of last weeks discussion.
regarding the articles which producers
in the United States had contributed to
the comforts of homes in other parts of
the world. Our tea, our coffee, our corks,
our bananas, our camphor, our licorce, our
pepper, nutmeg and other spires, our silk,
some or our cotton, a considerable part
Of cur wool and, strange as it may appear,
some part of the onions potatoes, and
cheese consumed in the United States are
brought from other countries and in many
cases from the opposite side of the globe
and out of the way parts of the world.
Few people would suppose, for example,
that this great agricultural country i'm
ports onions, or potatoes, or clover seed,
or honey; yet the value of onions import
ed in 1907 and 1908 was nearly million
dollars in each year, and they came
from Egypt, Australia, Japan, the Canary
Islands, Uruguay, Cuba, the British West
Indies, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico and
Spain. Of potatoes more than I-2 mil
lion dollars worth were imported in 1909,
the largest contributing country being
Scotland with over one million dol
lars worth, Ireland and Great Britain,
each three quarters of million dollars
worth, and the remainder largely from
European countries and in smaller guam
titles, from the British West Indies, Aus
tralia, and even China and Japan. Pep
per, of course, is not produced in the
United States and it is not surprising,
therefore, that 2 million dollars worth is
imported annually, much of it from the
Dutch East Indies, although largely ac-
credited to the Straits Settlements, the
southercmost point of eastern Asia, to
which this merchandise is transported from
the East Indian Islands, known a century
ago as the "Spice Islands, while small
er quantities come direct from Netherlands,
the country which has for so many years
administered the government of those
islands and controlled largely their lines
of production, Nutmegs, of which the i'm
portations amount to a quarter million
dollars year, are also drawn chiefly from
the "Spice Islands," or the Dutch East
Indies
One would scarcely expect that such
an agricultural country as the United
States would find it necessary to import
clover seed, the the quantity imorted runs
as high as 20 million pounds year,
chiefly from Germany and in smaller
quantities from France, Italy, and Scot
land. Sausage castings, which we would
scarcely expect to see imported into a coun-
try slaughtering food animals in such |
large numbers, are imported to the value
of from to million dollars year, by |
far the largest contributor being England, |
from which the importations in 1909 were
over II million dollars, the remainder
being from widely scattered countries,
from Germany, Turkey in Europe, China,
Australia, and Turkey in Asia. Natural
gas is another article which we would
scarcely expect to see imported, yet the
importations run as high as fifty thousand
dollars per annum, being pped across
the river from Canada at or near Niagara
Falls
Of the more commonly used articles OF
which other parts of the world are the
chief source, sugar is the largest in value,
its Importation ranging from about 100
million dallars year from foreign coun-
tries and 70 million dollars a year from
our own is and possessions, Hawaii Porto
Rico, and the Philippines. Nearly all OF |
that coming from foreign countries IS
drawn from Cuba, which supplied US last
fiscal year with IL billion pounds valued |
at q31-2 million dollars OF coffee, the |
importations range from 20 to IS million
dollars a year year and in exceptional
years as high as 100 million. The bulk OF !
this comes from Brazil, though a consid-
cradle portion comes from Java, Mexico,
Central America, and the nothern section |
of South America, and comparatively |
small quantity from Africa. The tea inn |
portations, which amount to from II to
rs million dollars year, come chiefly from |
Japan, China and India, much of the
latter, however, reaching the United States
by way of England.
One would scarcely expect to see raw
cotton imported into the United States IN
view of the fact that she produces three
fourth of the cotton of the world, but
the value of cotton imports ranges as high |
as 20 million dollars year, the bulk of It
coming from Egypt though Mexico and
Peru contribute considerable quantities,
even India, China, the Dutch East Indies
and the British West Indies make small
contributions.
All of the raw silk used in the United
States in manufacturing the 80 million
dollars worth of silk goods turned out
annually by our factories is brought from
other parts of the world, chiefly from ia
pan and China, though in smaller guam
titles from Italy and France. To the III
million dollars worth of hides and skins
imported last year, nearly every grand di- |
vision contributed OF goat skins alone
the imports last year amounted to 80
million dollars, brought from such distant
countries as India, China the Straits
Settlements Persia, Morocco, the Belgian
Kongo and Madagascar.