prominent feature of the trade was an extensive business in clipping the lower grades and reselling them on the market.

The following is the statement of the extreme prices each year for thirty-two years, indicating the month in which such prices were realized:

The receipts of barley aggregated 17,496,381 bushels, and shipments 9,767,708 bushels, as against 14,194,881 bushels and 9,322,244 bushels, respectively, during 1895. The crop as given by the United States Agricultural Department was 69,695,223 bushels. The quality of the crop was very poor and a considerable quantity was exported for stock feeding to the British Isles, Holland and South Africa. In ordinary years under such circumstances, our local feed dealers would use the lower grades of barley for mixing with oats and corn, but last year the prices of these

cereals were so low that they could not have been sold any lower or the profits in selling them increased by mixing the inferior grades of barley with them. Hence the poorer qualities of barley found an outlet in foreign markets. On account of low prices of

choice barley in 1895, maltsters were liberally stocked both with barley and malt, and consequently were not urgently in the market at any time; the entire situation therefore was such that the sellers were not in control of the market and prices were to a very large extent determined by depressing influences. From Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Iowa came the best quality. The grade of No. 2 has become obsolete, the best quality not more than meeting the requirements of No. 3 grade. So fine is the discrimination of the trade in the selection of this grain, with regard to color, weight and soundness, that there is a wide range of prices with respect to a single grade. For instance, No. 3 barley ranged from 12 to 17 cents per bushel without any change in general market conditions. At the beginning of the year, No. 3 sold at from 23 to 36 cents per bushel.

There was but little variation from this quotation until June when very little was done and prices ranged from 23 to 33 cents per bushel. In July and August there was no quotable market. A little trade timidly crept in during September at from 20 to 35 cents per bushel for the grade of No. 3. October trade was much the same. November and December brought a slight improvement and on the last day of the year sales were made from 23 to 35 cents for No. 3.

RYE.

The receipts of rye during the year aggregated 2,530,336 bushels, and shipments 1,374,509 bushels, as against 1,657,216 bushels and 1,168,252 bushels, respectively, during the year 1895. The visible supply of this grain on the 4th of January aggregated 1,557,000 bushels and on the 26th of December 2,996,000 bushels, as against 464,000 and 1,553,000 bushels on the corresponding dates in 1895. The quantity in store on the 4th of January was 236,890 bushels and on the 26th of December 1,076,720 bushels, as against 148,232 bushels and 228,372 bushels on the corresponding dates in 1895. The receipts during October aggregated about 650,000 bushels, and were larger than those of any other month. The bulk of the receipts arrived over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Prices ruled very low, influenced in part by low prices for other grains and in part by an absence of the usual distilling demand. The quantity exported during the calendar

year aggregated 5,323,889 bushels. The range of prices for No. 2 rye during the month of January was from 323 to 40 cents per bushel. No marked change occurred in February, but during March the market declined 4 cents per bushel, and in April, though there was not much change in prices, there was less confidence in the market than at any previous time of the year. This was the more evident during the May market when prices of No. 2 declined to 33 cents. Prices declined still more in June and in July; during these months the range was from 28 to 34 cents per bushel, the higher prices lasting but a short time early in June. No material change took place in August. During the latter part of September an unexpected speculative demand arose and prices rather suddenly advanced to 36 cents. This new strength remained in the market, steadily improving prices, until 43 cents was reached the last of November. A reaction came in December, the anticipations upon which the advance was based proving not to have been well founded. The rye market is one that is apt to exhibit some eccentricities and has shown that it is strongly individual in its character. Some years it does not vary much in price from the price of wheat, both being used for bread making and each containing about the same number of pounds to the bushel, but last year there was a wide difference between the price of rye and the price of wheat.

Prices during the year ranged from 28 to 42 cents per bushel. The following is a statement of prices for the year, by months, of No. 2 rye:

HAY.

The hay market was an unusually favorable one in all respects. The trade was large in volume, profitable to both the shipper and receiver, and free from those features which during many years made it, at times, exceedingly unsatisfactory. There was no congestion in the market, neither an accumulation of inferior grades. During the first six months of the year there was a brisk eastern demand at satisfactory prices to the western grower. The demand was so continuous and urgent that as soon as the new crop was cut, and even before it was sufficiently cured to pack safely, liberal shipments were made to this market in order to take advantage of the then exceptionally high prices. It is, however, under any circumstances, a mistake for the western hay producer to bale new timothy hay immediately after cutting, as hay baled under such circumstances will inevitably get out of condition. Arrivals from the new crop of prairie hay were, however, in splendid condition, and choice grades were sold at fairly good prices from July until December. In December, there was not only a diminution in the demand, but also a deterioration in the quality and condition of the hay shipped from the northwest. Wet weather in northwestern Iowa and southern Minnesota was the cause of this deterioration. The hay trade for the year 1896, as a whole, was profitable and did not during any part of the year cause complaint.

The receipts were very large and while prices of corn, oats, barley and seeds were lower than ever before, hay sold at fair prices, netting per acre more than any of the cereals except wheat. Much better results could have been obtained if better care had been taken of the crop. Millions of dollars worth of hay were destroyed by careless handling. It is estimated that the value of the hay sold in Chicago in 1896 was $2,750,000, upon the basis of 325,000 tons, sold at an average price of $8.50 per ton. There is every indication that the hay trade of Chicago is destined to become still larger. Receipts of hay in Chicago were very nearly equal to those of New York and will largely exceed them in another year. It is more than probable that the western farmer will in the future raise more hay and less corn, oats and barley. The cultivation of hay does not impoverish land as in the case of grain. Great changes have taken place in respect to marketing hay during the last twenty or twenty-five years. Twenty-five years ago farmers supplied consumers direct with loose hay cut from six

to fifteen miles from the city. A limited quantity of hay in bales reached us from railroad stations twenty to seventy-five miles distant. Now, a load of loose hay is seldom seen, and we receive our hay from the farthest stations in Nebraska and Oklahoma, six hundred miles away. Shippers can not be too greatly impressed with the importance of having each car load of a uniform quality and packed in the most approved form.

The crop of hay aggregated 59,282,158 tons, valued at $388,145,614, and was grown on 43,083,134 acres. The largest hay producing states are Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Vermont, California, Oregon, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin.

FLOUR.

The receipts of flour during the year aggregated 2,531,995 barrels, as against 3,005,400 barrels in 1895. The shipments aggregated 2,854,832 barrels, as against 2,532,000 barrels in 1895. The number of barrels of flour manufactured in this city during the year was 928,283. The quantity of flour exported during the calendar year aggregated 15,731,129 barrels, as against 14,187,483 barrels in 1895. The number of barrels of flour exported during the fiscal year ended June 30th, 1896, was 14,620,864, valued at $52,025,217, as against 15,268,892 barrels, valued at $51,651,928, exported during the preceding fiscal year. The closing prices for the years 1894 to 1896, inclusive, are given in the following statement:

The lowest price of the year obtained during the spring, when "patents" sold at $3.15 per barrel, and the highest in December, when sales were made at $4.75 per barrel. The volume of the demand was, on the whole, of a uniform character throughout the year, there being no disposition to purchase in excess of pressing wants, though during the month of June there was more liberal buying upon the part of some large dealers, as prices were so low