24 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



PRICES PAID FOR TEA. 



Tea may be referred to in the same way. In the fiscal year 1910 

 the average import value of tea was 16 cents per pound. It is 

 assumed that nearly all of the tea consumed in this country is bought 

 at retail prices ranging from 50 to 70 cents per pound and, with this 

 understanding, the import value of tea is from 23 per cent to 32 per 

 cent of what the consumer pays. 



CONSUMER'S PRICE AS AN INCREASE OF FARMER'S PRICE. 

 PRICE GAINS FROM ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW. 



In the consideration of this subject so far, the aspect has been that 

 of the producer; the farmer thinks of the price that the consumer 

 pays for farm products and compares with them the price that he 

 himself receives. 



While the farmer is looking forward with regard to the prices of 

 his products, the consumer is looking backward, and so regards the 

 prices that he pays as increases upon what the farmer gets. This 

 aspect of the matter may now be worth some attention. 



It is established by the investigation of this Department made last 

 June that the milk consumers of 78 cities paid for milk an increase of 

 100.8 per cent above the price received by dairymen; in other words, 

 the farmer's price was fully doubled. The lowest increase among the 

 geographic divisions was 75.5 per cent in the South Atlantic States 

 and the highest was 111.9 per cent in the Western States. 



In the purchase of butter the consumer pays 15.8 per cent above 

 the factory price in the case of creamery prints, 15.6 per cent above 

 in the case of factory tub, and 13.3 per cent above the factory price in 

 the case of renovated butter. The percentages of increase among the 

 five divisions of States do not vary much from the averages for the 

 United States. 



Some large percentages of increase of prices were found by the 

 Industrial Commission — 135.3 per cent for cabbage bought by the 

 head; 100 per cent for melons bought by the pound, for buttermilk 

 sold by the quart, and for oranges sold by the crate; 260 per cent for 

 onions bought by the peck; 400.4 per cent for oranges bought by the 

 dozen; 111.1 per cent for strawberries bought by the quart; and 200 

 per cent for watermelons sold singly. 



There were many cases of increase of consumer's price over far- 

 mer's price amounting to 75 per cent and over, but under 100 per 

 cent, and among these were 90.5 per cent for apples bought by the 

 barrel and 80.6 per cent for apples bought by the box; 75 per cent 

 for chickens bought by the head; 83.4 per cent for onions bought by 

 the pound; 80.5 per cent for potatoes bought by the bushel; 88.8 

 per cent for poultry in general bought by the pound; 95.8 per cent 



