Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/737

Rh EUROPE 707 the mightiest of them is to the Rome that then was as the world of the 19th century is to the &quot; world &quot; of the first. Along with increased necessities and more varied desires have been developed greater possibilities of supply and satisfaction ; and the commerce of Europe has become the commerce of the globe. The great indispensables are food and clothing, and in regard to neither of these is Europe self-sufficing. Austria, Russia, Iloumania, and Denmark are the only countries that grow a sufficient quantity of the cereals to maintain a regular export, and even these are indebted to foreign supply for much of their ordinary food materials. Russia annually produces about 644,000,000 bushels of grain, and of this she can spare upwards of 120,000,000. The chief corn-growing districts are New Russia and Bessarabia, and the principal ports of outlet are Odessa, Taganrog, Rostoff, Mariupol, and Berdiansk. England and France purchase most of the wheat, and Germany most of the rye. Austria- Hungary produces about 400,000,000 bushels; but it is only in favourable years that the export exceeds the import. Rouuiania has an average harvest of about 89,000,000 bushels, and exports to the value of about 4,500,000. Denmark counts about 79,000,000 bushels of produce, and lias a surplus of 65,000,000. England and Ireland derived in 1874 about 63 per cent, of its foreign wheat from the United States and Canada, 11 per cent, from Russia, 8 per cent, from Germany, and 4 per cent, from Chili. The value of the whole import amounted to upwards of .51,000,000; and it is calculated that on the average England requires the produce of about 4,500,000 acres of foreign wheat fields. The average harvest in France yields about 658,000,000 bushels ; and in favourable years she lias a small export. Germany produces about 715,000,000, but requires at least 80,000,000 worth additional. Belgium s medium harvest reaches 64,000,000 bushels, but it is never sufficient for the population; in 1873 they paid upwards of 64,000,000 for foreign supplies. The Netherlands produce about 31,000,000, and purchase to the extent of 3,000,000. The Italian harvest furnishes about 282,000,000 bushels, besides 27,000,000 bushels of rice, but the import exceeds the export sometimes to a very high value. &quot; In favourable years Sweden and Norway yield 82,000,000 bushels: the former country exports oats and barley, and imports rye, wheat, and meal; the latter, with a surplus of oats, requires a large foreign supply of all other grains. The Spanish produce varies from 27 to 200 millions of bushels, but about 2,300,000 worth have to be imported. Portugal, with a mean harvest of 30,000,000 bushels, purchases to the amount of 250,000. For the Avhole of the continent the total harvest may be stated at about 4,893,000,000 bushels. Europe finds greater difficulty in satisfying its demands for animal food. The average consumption per head of population is rising in all the principal countries; and though the modern stock-raiser can produce a greater quantity of ilesh per ox or sheep, it is in several districts found more profitable to turn the ground to other uses, and sheep and cattle farming are consequently on the decline. There has thus grown up a great import trade, not only of living animals, but, within the last twenty years, of preserved meat, the principal sources being North and South America and Australia. The trade is yet in its infancy, and trustworthy statistics are not readily accessible. An ever-growing addition to the food supplies of Europe is marie in the form of what are called colonial wares sugar, tea, coffee, &c. Though the native production of best sugar amounts on an average to 22 or 23 million cwt per annum, that would only furnish about 7 tt&amp;gt; on an average to each inhabitant; while as far back as 1866, ac cording to Robert Burger s calculation, the average demand was more than 11 lb per head, and in Britain had reached about 42 lb. The consumption, moreover, has since then increased enormously Great Britain having advanced to 62 lb per head, France from 13 lb to 19 lb. and Germany from 10 lb to 15 lb. Almost the same might be said of tea, in the consumption of which Britain again stands first, re quiring about 4 Ih a head per annum; and of coffee, of which Belgium requires the greatest average supply, or about 9 lb a head. And to all this must be added the multitudinous articles of consumption from far and near that give such a cosmopolitan air even to an ordinary grocer s shop. For that most universal of all clothing materials, cotton, Europe is almost entirely indebted to other parts of the world ; and though it grows a large quantity of wool and no inconsider able amount of silk, its demand for both far exceeds its domestic supply. So much, however, of what it imports is again exported in the form of manufactured goods, that it is almost impossible to obtain a correct estimate of its true consumption. For details on these enormous trades the reader may consult the separate articles. The European production of wool was reckoned in 1871 at upwards of 562,370,0005), England contributing 159,000,000, France 91,108,000, and Russia 90,760,000 to the total. The production of silk is about 12,000,000 lb. Some idea of the relative position of the separate countries in the general traffic of the world may be ob tained from the following table of the strength of the com mercial marine: l Vessels of all kinds. Steamers. Tons. Men. Great Britain . 22,200 2,557 5,533,000 210,000 Germany 5,082 219 1,285,000 40,000 France 5,115 316 1,141,000 35,000 Italy 4,808 102 1,080,000 50,000 Norway . . 6,990 118 1,020,000 48,000 Holland 2,000 52 491,000 16,000 Spain 4,500 150 392,000 20,000 Greece 2,100 7 392,000 20,000 Russia . 3,160 192 383,000 20,000 Austria 3,000 95 373,000 32,000 Sweden 3,300 390 353,000 32,000 Denmark 2,800 88 186,000 Turkey .. 1,500 10 176,000 6,000 Portugal 800 16 113,000 8,000 Belgium. 70 12 30,000 1,400 Approximate totals.. 87,100 5,544 15,863,000 550,000 If it were not for the enormous development which has TmTus- been attained by its manufacturing industries, Europe tries, would have no means of paying for what the other con tinents can afford to send ; it has comparatively few raw materials which it can give in exchange, and so it pays for them with its labour and its skill. The countries which rank as emphatically industrial are Great Britain, France, Saxony, Switzerland, Belgium, Wiirtembcrg, Prussia, and Alsace-Lorraine. In the manufacture of iron Britain stands at the head of the list, especially for steel, wire, rails, and cast-iron. In the first department its principal rivals are Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, and Belgium ; in the second Germany, France, Sweden, and Belgium are also exporters, and Austria-Hungary and Italy manufacture for their own markets; and in the third the state of matters is much the same, with the exception that several other countries are also producers in a small way. Tho manufacture of cast-iron is more widely distributed, form ing an important industry not only in most of the coun tries already named, but also in Italy, Spain, the Nether lands, &c. Tho same position of supremacy belongs to 1 See Neumann-Spnllnrt s contributions on the Trade of the World to the several volumes of Behm s Geoffrafhisekes Jahrbuch.