POTATOES. This is the second contribution of the New World to the food supply of nations, and it has become an important resource in the dietary of nearly every country of the world where systematic agriculture is practiced. With other root crops it is an especially important item in European agriculture, forming in many districts the staple article of diet. The heavy yield per acre and its inherent value for food purposes make it available as a crop in countries where agricultural areas are limited and population dense. Under intensive farming methods the food produce per acre of potatoes is very large. This is exemplified by the garden-like culture which is carried on in the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, where an area of only 8,819 acres furnished 2,336,783 bushels of potatoes for shipment to the United Kingdom in 1891. This is at the rate of 265 bushels per acre in addition to the home consumption, and the export trade amounted to $334 per acre cultivated. The value of the crop in densely peopled countries is appreciated, the supply per head being large where the population per square mile is greatest. In this particular Germany leads, with Belgium and Netherlands in the order named. The crop does not enter largely into the foreign trade of any country, the production of each country being mainly for home use, and in most of them ample for domestic requirements. Germany, with a net exportation of less than 5,000,000 bushels per annum, is the heaviest exporting country, but this amount is less than one-tenth of 1 per cent of the average crop. The United Kingdom, with 5,000,000 bushels, is the largest importing country, and yet only about 2 per cent of her total supply is drawn from foreign sources. Europe is a little more than self supporting, the aggregate imports of all the countries being about 14,500,000 bushels against an exportation of about 15,200,000. The average crop of Europe, as officially reported, for the countries presented is 2,663,505,647 bushels. This is exclusive of Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Servia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey, for which no official estimates are available. The official estimates for countries outside of Europe aggregate an annual production of 187,671,363 bushels. Official estimates for this crop are more fragmentary than in the case of the other leading crops, and the figures given do not cover so large a portion of the world's product as in other tabulations presented in this report. It will be noticed that aside from the United States and the island of Guadeloupe no country of the New World presents an official estimate of the crop. Germany is the greatest potato producing and consuming country in the world, with an average production of nearly 900,000,000 bushels per annum, and in years of large production exceeding 1,000,000,000 bushels. Russia stands second in production with a crop of 464,000,000 bushels, closely followed by Austria-Hungary and France. The importance of the crop in the United States is small in comparison with its standing in European agriculture. The average crop is about 170,000,000 bushels, or considerably less than the crop of the United Kingdom. The relative importance of the potato as a food crop may be judged by the fact that in Europe the crop for all the countries reported aggregates more bushels than the combined wheat and rye crops, and that the crop of that continent exceeds in volume the aggregate wheat crop of the world. Trade in this product is reported in almost every country for which any records are extant. Its use in some form is almost universal, and in the more prominent countries it forms an important item in foreign trade. It is the third of America's contributions to agriculture, which has been accepted by those engaged in the cultivation of the soil wherever climatic conditions are favorable. With variations, the result of culture and differences in soil and climate, it is grown in almost every section of the world, its only limitations practically being the northern countries, where the season is not long enough to admit of proper growth. As far north as Sweden and as far south as the Argentine Republic part of the domestic consumption is supplied by domestic production. In compiling the figures of commercial exchange of this product which are presented it has been the aim to give only imports and exports of the raw product, excluding manufactured leaf in all forms. It has frequently been difficult to draw the line of demarkation, but it is believed that the figures presented practically represent the raw product only. An examination of the statistics of each country in detail, presented later in this report, will show, however, whether the averages presented in the table below necessarily include manufactured tobacco in any form. In Europe the cultivation of this product is mainly confined to the southern and eastern countries. Austria-Hungary leads with an annual product averaging 134,000,000 pounds, while Germany grows 90,000,000 pounds and France 44,000,000 pounds. In other countries the production is small and forms but a small proportion of the supply required for domestic use. Even France does not produce one half of The her supply and Germany but little more than that proportion. No country in Europe furnishes any considerable supply of tobacco beyond its own requirements and the annual net importation for that continent is almost 350,000,000 pounds. It is the great market for the surplus production of the world, and its demands are supplied by shipments from many sources. The United States furnishes the largest proportion, her net shipments averaging 230,000,000 pounds per annum. rest is drawn from miscellaneous sources, the East and West Indies furnishing the bulk. Data of production and shipments from Cuba and adjacent producing islands are not available, but the Dutch colonies in the East Indies furnish nearly 50,000,000 pounds each year to the commercial supply. This source has developed rapidly during recent years, and nearly the whole production goes originally to Europe although a considerable amount of some particular grades finally reaches the United States. An estimate of the production of the world which shall include all countries of considerable production can not be obtained. The crop is grown in many countries for which even the data of foreign trade are not available. In Europe the official estimates presented aggregate 299,720,452 pounds. Unofficial estimates for countries not officially presented might be presented as follows, relying upon the authority of Übersichten der Weltwirtschaft: Bulgaria Russia.. Servia.. Switzerland Finland Total. Pounds. 5, 114, 672 3,306, 900 440, 920 142, 690, 530 This makes the average crop of Europe, excluding Turkey and the small amount which may be produced in Denmark, Spain, and Norway, 442,410,982 pounds. Outside of Europe the trade records presented show that there is a considerable production which affects commercial supply in British India, Madura, Cambodia, Mexico, and Paraguay. In addition no official data are available for such producing districts as Cuba, China, Brazil, and other countries not included in the table below. In the face of these omissions it is manifestly impossible to frame a definite estimate of the world's crop. Leaving out of consideration producing countries for which no data are available, the leading tobacco growing countries in the order of the prominence are United States, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Dutch East Indies, France, and Japan. Of these only two, United States and the Dutch colonies, produce more than their domestic requirements, although Japan apparently exports a small amount. |