The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-12-01
imports and Exports of Farmer
Materials.

The agricultural interests of foreign
countries buy nearly 800. 900. 900 worth
Of American manufactures and other
products for use in cultivating the soil,
while about $50, 900 worth of for.
eign products are annually imported
into the United States for use upon
American farms. The foregoing sum-
marizss certain information recently
compiled by the Bureau of StatisticsS
Department of Commerce and Labor,
in response to an inquiry upon that
subject received from representative
newspaper located in the great farming
area of the Middle West, and refers
more especially to those classes of
merchandise having their chief, If not
exclusive use in the farming industry
and does not include articles in general
use, such as clothing, furniture and
miscellaneous manufactures
OF the exports from the United States
Of articles required in farming. by far
the larger portion are composed of
manufactures, such as agricultural i'm
plements, binding Irvine. barbed wire,
and oil cake; while phosphate rock, to
be ground up and used as. fertilizer,
and clover, timothy and other grass
seeds are among the articles exported
in the natural state. In addition to the
exports above enumerated as specifical-
ly for farm use, there are certain arti
Gle for which the agriculturslists of
other countries draw upon the United
States but which cannot be classed as
distinctively for farm purposes, such as
wagons, carriages, traction engines,
fiber bags, pumps, etc. In such cases
the Bureau of Statistics has no means
undermining. the1proportion of the
sxportsiintended for farm use and they
are not, therefore, included in the 100
million dollars worth of merchandise
exported for agricultural purposes.
Taking up the principal exports of
the class under discussion, agricultural
implements head thealist. with a pro-
bable total Of $4O,OOO,OO0 in the year
about to end, comprised of nearly SEQ,
600, 900 worth of mowers and reapers,
IS, 600, 600 worth of plows and cultiva-
tors, $500, 900 worth of threshers, and
she remainder miscellaneous farming |
tools and. implements. These agricul-
tural implements are exported to practi-
cally all parts of the world where man
has adopted modern methods of Guilt |
waiting the soil; in the great wheat |
fields of Russia, in the vineyards of |
France, on the coffee plantations of |
Brazil, in the rice fields of China and |
Japan. and in all the rapidly develop
ing countries Of the New World, in
Guiding Canada, Argentina, Cuba and
Mexico. The years exports will range
srem nearly $s,000,OOO to European
Russia. $4,000, 900 to Argentina. and
about So, 600, 900 to Canada, to about
81, 500. 900 to Africa, while to British
Australasia and Oceanic will be sent
total of nearly 100000, to other
Oceania and Asia about 81, zoo, 900, and
to Brazil about $500, worth. Even
the great manufacturing countries of
Europe, the United Kingdom, Ger.
many and France are represented in
she years exports of agricultural i'm
Elements, the United Kingdom with
total Of over 81, 900, 900, Germany, ST.
100000 and France $3,000,000.
Fertilizers, of which the exports will
be about $4,000. 900 during the year,
are chiefly sent to European countries,