of this quantity was used for re-boiling and about thirty per cent. was used for distilling, so that the actual supply suitable for table use was necessarily moderate, and had to be supplemented with the usual mixtures and substitutes that have been growing in favor within the past few years. The available supply of cane molasses depends of course upon the yield of sugar, of which it is a by-product, and hence the larger importations from Cuba and Porto Rico were a consequence of the expanding proportions of the sugar yield, nevertheless it is a fact that the supply of the desirable grades is gradually shrinking because of the more perfect crystalization of cane juice by improved methods of treatment and the better mechanical equipment of the modern sugar house. Thus the sugar yield is more abundant, but at the expense of the by-product. Porto Rico and other West Indian grades are chiefly used in the New England and Middle States, while the mixtures and substitutes which comprise a large percentage of glucose find favor principally with Western consumers. The re-boiling of foreign molasses is carried on exclusively at the port of Philadelphia, where about six million gallons have been used up by this industry, while the demand for distilling grades is gradually increasing because of the scarcity of other material suitable for this industry. The by-product of the refineries, which is known to the trade as sugar house syrup, is sold almost wholly for export, as refiners are thereby enabled to recover from the Government, a draw-back that materially reduces the cost of the original raw material. The pure food regulations, which recently came into operation by reason of legislation enacted at the last session of Congress, will no doubt affect the preparation of all kinds of liquid sweets distributed for table consumption. Coffee. The most important influences in shaping the course of trade during 1906 was, no doubt, the large crop in Brazil, which commenced to loom up early in the year, and the liquidation of a stale speculative interest which was in course of being completed. The marketing of this large crop commenced on the first of July, and almost from the beginning the receipts at the chief shipping ports gave evidence that previous estimates were fully justified. Up to and including December 31st the receipts at Rio and Santos amounted to 12,119,000 bags, compared with 7,801,000 bags for the previous corresponding period. Since then the receipts show very conclusively that the crop will aggregate over eighteen and one-half million bags, which is not only the largest yield on record but may be well denominated a giant crop in comparison with any previous season. But this is not the only feature that has had a controlling effect upon all distributing markets, for, in addition, the Government of Brazil has been putting into operation a newly devised plan for saving the industry from the ruinous results of over-production, which threatened the most important industry of the Republic. This is known as the valorization law, and provides for the purchase by the Government of so much of the surplus offerings as will prevent prices going below the actual cost of production. This plan is to be financed with the aid of special loans that are guaranteed by the Government and the purchases are pledged as collateral. The expenses of interest and administration are to be liquidated by a sur tax of three francs, or about sixty cents per bag, upon all exports. Up to the 31st of December the purchases on this account are reported to have been three million bags, and up to May 31st, 1907, the purchases are believed to amount to over seven million bags, a large proportion of which has been shipped to this country and Europe. These two influences have created and intensified a bearish feeling on the part of roasters, jobbers and all other distributing buyers, with the result that operations have been restricted in almost every instance to hand-to-mouth purchases. This condition of affairs is all the more surprising in view of the fact that consumption has increased, that desirable grades have been scarce and difficult to obtain, and that of the increasing visible supply a large percentage is held under the valorization law and is not available at present prices. Still prices, with but slight fluctuations, have drifted steadily downward. The trade appears to lack faith in the efficacy of valorization, although reports of the next crop foreshadow a yield very much smaller than the one that will be completed June 30th, 1907. Tea. The year has been uneventful in the tea trade, the operations of both importers and dealers having been on a comparatively moderate scale, while prices have ruled on the average fairly steady for all descriptions. The importations for the year show a considerable falling off compared with recent years, and hence the position of supplies has been satisfactory, as this has given an opportunity for the distribution of the over-supply that accumulated here two years ago as a result of the war between Russia and Japan. There has been an increased demand for India and Ceylon Teas, but only because they have been available at comparatively moderate and attractive prices. Tobacco.-General conditions were the same as in 1905, therefore results were the same in 1906, which, like its predecessor, made new high records. The output of manufactured tobacco, including snuff, aggregated 384,613,341 pounds, an increase of 18,051,904 pounds; of cigars 7,373,491,014, increase 348,927,295; of small cigars 994,779,5-5, increase 189,758, 498; of cigarettes 4,427,915,774, increase 869,549,680, all of which for home consumption. For export, tobacco 8,166,695 pounds, increase 923,003 pounds; cigars 2,099,000, increase 2,099,000, increase 172,000; cigarettes 1,853,194,000, increase 52,912,000. Exports of domestic leaf tobacco aggregated 323,966,930 pounds, an increase of 38,572,678 pounds; of stems, scraps and cuttings, 12,763,525 pounds, increase 5,232,596 pounds. Consequently there was active trading from the beginning of the year to the end, and the increase of 50,000,000 pounds in the production of domestic leaf tobacco could not prevent a further average advance of 25 per cent. in the value of the product over and above the 25 per cent. already gained in 1905. Like activity, with proportionate advances in values, prevailed in imported tobaccos, in Havana tobacco even more so, owing to a partial crop failure in the lesser portions of the Island of Cuba, and an almost entire failure in the very best section-the celebrated Vuelta Abajo. Under these circumstances, producers of and dealers in leaf tobacco naturally enjoyed great prosperity, also manufacturers of chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff. Not so, manufacturers of cigars, who are still contending in an open field under the keenest kind of competition, which has so far prevented them from advancing prices in proportion to the advance in the price of the leaf. Their profits have been sadly curtailed, and there is no prospect of betterment in the near future. In the leaf market it is a case of consumption running ahead of production. There can be but one crop of tobacco per year, which is already well nigh limited by the lack of suitable soil and of the labor to cultivate it. But there are really two crops of consumers per year, the "home" crop, composed of those grown up among us and newly acquiring the habit, and the "foreign" crop, composed of those landing on our shores many hundred thousand strong, bringing the habit with them. Cotton. The cotton crop of the United States for the year ended September 1st, 1906, amounted to 11,319,860 bales, weighing 5,788,628,083 pounds, against 13,556,841 bales, weighing 6,996,731,233 pounds the corresponding year ending September 1st, 1905, a decrease of 2,236,981 in bales and 1,208,103,150 in pounds. The exports to foreign countries during the year ended September 1st, 1906, were 6,716,351 bales, against 8,877,400 bales during the same period in 1905, an decrease of 2,161,049 bales. The Northern spinners took of the crop of 1906, 2,453,948 bales, and for the same period in 1905, 2,346,652 bales, an increase of 107,296, bales. The Southern spinners took of the crop of 1906, 2,398, 404 bales, and in 1905, 2,203,406 bales, an increase of 194,998 bales. The stock of cotton in the markets of the United States September 1st, 1906, amounted to 198,178 bales, against 322,592 bales at the same time in 1905, a decrease of 124,414 bales. The highest price of middling upland cotton in the New York market in 1906 was 12.25 cents on the 27th of January, and the lowest 9.90 cents on the 25th of August. Breadstuffs.-The exports of breadstuffs from the United States during the fiscal year ended June 30th, 1906, consisted of 13,919,048 barrels of flour, valued at $59,106,869; 34,973,291 bushels of wheat, valued at $28,757,517; 117,718,657 bushels of corn, valued at $62,061,856; 46,324,935 bushels of oats, valued at $16,234,918; 17,729,360 bushels of barley, valued at $8,653,231. Other breadstuffs, valued at $11,654,510, making a total of $186,468,901, an increase over the previous fiscal year of $78,735,991. The exports from the Port of New York for the same period consisted of 3,160,129 barrels of flour, valued at $14,537,231; 7,504,494 bushels of wheat, valued at $6,526,870; 24,528,429 bushels of corn, valued at $13,586, 287; 10,079,449 bushels of oats, valued at $3,479,249; 7,466,260 bushels of barley, valued at $3,557,263, amounting in the aggregate to $41,686,900; and other breadstuffs, valued at $4,937,685; making a total of $46,624,585, an increase over the previous year of $18,193,652. Provisions. The exports of provisions for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 1906, were as follows: Canned beef 64,523,359 pounds, valued at $6,430,446; fresh beef 268,054,227 pounds, valued at $24,310,038; salted or pickled beef 81,088,098 pounds, valued at $4,697,742; tallow 97,567,156 pounds, valued at $4,791,025; salted or pickled pork 141,820,720 pounds, valued at $11,681,634; bacon 361,210,563 pounds, valued at $35,845,793; hams 194,267,949 pounds, valued at $20,075,511; lard 741,516,886 pounds, valued at $60,132,091; oleo, the oil 209,658,075 pounds, valued at $17,455,976; value of all other provisions ** |