In 1897, 3,588 titles were issued, alienating 1,382,880 acres of land. Up to December 31, 1897, the total area disposed of was 127,550,480 acres, 49,453,840 remaining. There are 537 square miles under forest.

Regarding the area under cultivation, there are no recent statistics. In 1875 the total was 580,000 acres, of which 18,000 were under vines.

The chief agricultural products for the year ending May 31, 1898, were: Wheat, 1,950,831 bushels; oats, 1,447,353 bushels; barley, 907,920 bushels; mealies, 2,060,742 bushels; Kaffir corn, 1,140,615 bushels; rye, 287,679 bushels; oat hay, 48,850,181 bundles of 5% lbs.; tobacco, 3,934,277 lbs. There were 83,759,031 vine stocks, yielding 4,861,056 gallons of wine, 1,387,392 gallons of brandy, and 2,577,909 lbs. raisins. There were 4,195,624 fruit trees. The chief pastoral products were: Wool, 39,141,445 lbs.; mohair, 8,115,170 lbs.; ostrich feathers, 294,733 ibs.; butter, 2,623,329 lbs.; cheese, 38,729 lbs. There were 1,201,522 head of cattle, 352,610 horses, 85,060 mules and asses, 12,616,883 sheep, 5,316,767 Angora and other goats, and 267,693 ostriches in 1898.

The sheep farms of the colony are often of very great extent, from 3,000 to 15,000 acres and upwards; those in tillage are comparatively small. The grazers are, for the most part, proprietors of the farms which they occupy. In 1875 the total number of holdings was 16,166, comprising 83,900,000 acres; of these, 10,766, comprising upwards of 60,000,000 acres, were held on quit-reut.

At the census of 1891 there were 2,230 industrial establishments employing, altogether, 32.735 persons, having machinery and plant valued at £1,564,897 and annually producing articles worth £9, 38,870. Among these establishments were flour mills, breweries, tobacco factories, tanneries, and diamond, gold, copper, and coal mines.

Foreign Commerce.

Of the total imports in 1897, the value of £4,569,000 (including £65,911 specie) was duty-free, while the value of £13,429,000 was subject to duty. The customs revenue amounted to £2,189,580, or about 18 per cent. of the imports subject to duty.

The values of the total imports and exports, including specie, of Cape Colony and dependencies, for the years named, were as follows:

The total value (partly estimated) of diamonds exported from 1868 to 1897 was £83,307,087. The gold given among exports is really imported from the Transvaal, though not included among imports. The principal imports are textile fabrics, dress, etc., £4,598,682, and food, drinks, etc., £3,817,828 in 1897.

Railroads, Post-Office, and Telegraphs. (See Index.)

Banking.

The following are the statistics of the banks under trust laws in the colony:

This colony of Great Britain has an estimated area of 20,460 square miles. The total population as officially reported was, in 1879, Europeans, 22,654; Indians, 16,999; Kaflirs, 319,934; total, 359,587. In 1891, Europeans, 46,788; Indians, 41,142; Kaffirs, 455,983; total, 543,913.

The revenue and expenditure of the colony, exclusive of loan funds, in the years ended June 30, were as follows:

Of the total area of the colony, 2,250,000 acres have been set apart for native occupation, 7,514,315 acres have been acquired by grant from the Crown by Europeans, 1, 158, 138 acres have been sold on deferred payments, and about 1,000,000 acres remain unalienated from the Crown. Of the total area in 1896, 220,393 acres were under cultivation by Europeans, the leading crop for export being sugar (produce, 1896, 110,839 ewt.), though large quantities of maize, wheat, oats, and other cereal and green crops are grown. Tea planting has recently been introduced, 2,302 acres being under tea in 1895, the yield for the year ended June 30, 1896, being about 793,100 pounds. Estimated total number of acres under cultivation by natives, 533,926.

The coal fields of the colony, which are of large extent, are now in direct communication with the seaport of Durban. The output for the year 1894 was 151,520 tons; 1835, 160,115 tons; in 1896, 216.106 tons.

The annual value of the maritime imports and exports has been as follows:

About 70 per cent. of the imports are from, and 50 per cent, of the exports to, Great Britain. The principal imports in 1897 were: Apparel and slops, £414,269; haberdashery, £480,208; flour, grain, £338,277; leather goods, etc., £263,708; iron and goods, £612,864; cottons, £75,635; woolens, £74,311; machinery, £397,528; wines, spirits, ales, £142,904.

The principal exports were: Angora hair, £34,892; hides and skins, £51,220; sugar, £12,011; coal, £89,863; wool, £474,681; gold, bar, etc., £18,223; bark, £17,659.

ALGERIA.

Area.
Square Miles.

The estimated area of this French colony is officially stated at 184,474 square miles, although some of the territory is claimed by the nomad tribes. The following table gives the area of each of the three departments of Algeria, according to the census of 1896:

1,313,206

213,461

1,526,667

22

Of the total population in 1891, there were 271,101 French, 47,564 Jews, 3,554,067 French indigenous subjects, 18,617 Moroccans and Tunisians, besides Spaniards, Italians, Anglo-Maltese, and Germans; 3,301,795 persons were dependent on agriculture, 494,435 on trade, industries, and carriage by sea and land, 56,075 on the public service, 33.893 on liberal professions, 72,759 lived on their means, 56,374 were without profession or means, and 94,319 were of unknown or unclassed occupation.

The estimated revenue and expenditure, not including public debt, war and marine, for 1896 were: Revenue, 52.147,194, and expenditure, 71,219,959 francs. For 1898, revenue, 52,037,152 francs, and expenditure, 71,147,857 francs. For 1899, revenue, 54,152,371 francs; expenditure, 73,370,449 francs.

A great part of the land is held undivided by Arab tribes. Most of the State lands have been appropriated to colonists. The population engaged in agriculture in 1895 was 3,482,356, 205,642 being Europeans. About 20,000,000 hectares are occupied by the agricultural population.

In 1895-96, the total yield of cereals was 16,577,589 quintals, of which 7,070,971 were wheat and 8,412,263 were barley. In 1896, 122,186 hectares were under vines, the yield being 4,350,120 hectolitres. In 1895, 1,486,779 hectares were worked for alfa, 385,484 quintals being picked. In 1896, 22,073 quintals of cork were sold, value 696,815 francs. There were 5,720,360 kilos tobacco harvested in 1895. Other products are olives, dates, flax, colza and other oil seeds, and ramie.

In 1896, 14 mines were worked for iron, zinc, lead, mercury, copper, and antimony. Iron ore extracted, 374,000 tons. value 2,690,000 francs; zinc and lead ore, 17,717 tons, value 844,000 francs. Three-fourths of the trade of Algeria is conducted with France and French colonies. The total "special" commerce was as follows (in francs):

The special trade of Algeria with other countries was as follows (in thousands of francs):

2,584

The chief imports in 1896 were: Animals, 8.296,010 francs; animal products, 3,462,415 francs; colonial produce, 8,716,437 franes; timber, 4,417,3:7 franes; tissues, 1242,145 franes: clocks, trinkets, etc., 1,730.264 franes. Chief exports were: Flour, etc., 957,964 franes; colonial produce, 4,903,765 franes; metals, 5,288,918 franes.

SHIPPING. - In 1897, 1,729 vessels, of 923,341 tons, entered Algerian ports, and 1,755, of 928,907 tons, cleared. In the coasting trade, 8,976 vessels, of 1,437,449 tons, entered, and the same cleared.

For RAILROADS, TELEGRAPHS, POST-OFFICE, see Index.

AUSTRALASIA.

Commerce with the United States.

(See Index, under “United States.")

NEW SOUTH WALES.

The estimated population on June 30, 1898, was 1,335,800. The census periods show the following

Interest on

"Services" includes revenue from railways, tramways, post, and telegraphs, etc.

Railways Post and

EXPENDITURE.*

Other Public

and

Tele

Debt & Extinc

700,905

2,267.861

702,361

2,271,833

PUBLIC DEBT.

Total Net
Expendi-

ture.
£9,214,669

9,523,057

9,140,625 9,391,012

The amount of the public debt on June 30, 1897, was £61,074,498, with mean rate of interest 3.71 per cent. This includes the loan of £4,000,000 floated in October, 1895. Of this amount, fully 81 per cent. has been spent on the construction of railways, tramways, telegraphs, water supply, and sewerage. The net return from these services was equal to 3.63 per cent, of the cost of construction, or 3 per cent. of the existing public debt, exclusive of Treasury bills. In June, 1897, the amount still to be raised on which the authority had not been withdrawn was £13,462,067.

The expenditure of loans, exclusive of redemptions, up to June 30, 1897, has been: Railways and tramways, £40,273,799; telegraphs and telephones, £935,396; wharfs, £1,479,766: docks, 319,951; harbors and navigation, £2,260,220; roads and bridges, £989,573; immigration, £194,430; water supply and sewerage, £7,786,584; fortifications and warlike stores, £1,242,006; public buildings, £2,609,774; public school buildings, £403,820; works in Queensland prior to separation, £49,855; total services, £58,545,174. The estimated wealth of the colony in 1892 was £593,286,500, of which £189,138,500 was public and £404,148,000 was private wealth.

* Exclusive of expenditures from loans.

Agriculture.

The area under cultivation in New South Wales during the last four years and the crops produced were as follows:

Year ending March 31. Area under Cultivation.

Principal Crops.

-1895

Wheat

Maize....

Barley

Tons.

Tons.

Tous.

181,645 Bush.

6,713,060 93,509 Tons. 2,008

Bush.

Bush.

On January 1, 1898, the colony had 43,952,897 sheep, 2,085,096 horned cattle, 498,034 horses, 207,738 pigs. There were 121,137 persons engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits.

Mining and Manufactures.

In 1897, the value of the gold raised was £1,088,413, against £1,073,360 in 1896. In 1897, silver was raised to the value of £16,711, and silver lead ore and metal altogether valued at £1,681,528; copper, £283,174; coa), £1,230,041.

The following shows the condition of the manufacturing interests in 1897, the capital invested account being taken from the census of 1891:

Wool is the staple article of export. The exports are shown as follows:

Other exports in 1897 were: Tallow, £504,227; coal, £952,054; hides and skins, £772,584; leather, £304,179; meat, preserved and frozen, £545,133; gold coin, £4,316,647.