The import trade of Great Britain consists mainly of food-stuffs and raw materials.[67] Of the latter, cotton is by far the most important. Most of it comes from the United States, but the Nile delta, Brazil, the Dekkan of India, the Iran plateau, and the Piura Valley of Peru send portions, each region having fibre of specific qualities designed for specific uses. The native wool clip forms only a small part of the amount used in manufacture. The remainder, more than three million pounds, comes from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The supply of flax is small, and 100,000 tons are imported to meet the wants of the mills. The greater part is purchased in Russia, but the finer quality is imported from Belgium. Jute is purchased from India and manufactured into burlap and rugs. But little available standing timber remains, and lumber must, therefore, be imported. The pine is purchased mainly in Sweden, Norway, Canada, and the United States. A considerable amount of wood-pulp is imported from Canada for paper-making. Mahogany for ornamental manufactures is obtained from Africa and British Honduras. Oak, and the woods for interior finish, are purchased largely from Canada and the United States. The export trade of Great Britain consists almost wholly of the articles manufactured with British coal as the power. These are made from the raw materials purchased abroad, and the stamp of the British craftsman is a guarantee of excellence and honesty. Of the total export trade, amounting yearly to about one billion, two hundred million dollars, nearly one-third consists of cotton, woollen, linen, and jute textiles; one-fifth consists of iron and steel manufactured stuffs made from British ores. About one-third goes to the colonies of the mother-country, with whom she keeps in close touch; Germany, the United States, and the South American states are the chief foreign buyers. For the handling and carriage of these goods there is an admirable system of railways reaching from every part of the interior to the numerous ports. The rolling stock and the locomotives are not nearly so heavy as those used in the United States; the railway beds and track equipment, on the whole, are probably the best in the world. Freight rates are considerably higher than on the corresponding classes of merchandise in the United States. The public highways are most excellent, but the means of street traffic in the cities are very poor.