94 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the Crop Reporter, ami .'i iniscellaneous publications, all prepared in 

 other branches of the bureau, have been read and revised in this 

 division. 



Four bulletins, entitled, respectively, " The world production, trade, 

 and consumption of coffee," " Some statistical results of farm 

 bookkeeping in Switzerland," " Land and labor," and " Comparative 

 prices of staple products in leading markets of the United States," are 

 now being prepared in the division and will probably be ready for 

 publication during the next fiscal year. 



THE PURCHASING POWER OF FARM PRODUCTS. 



In 1910 an investigation was made in the Bureau of Statistics 

 which showed that the money value of 1 "acre of the farmer's crops 

 in 1909 was 72.7 per cent more than the money value of 1 acre of his 

 crops in 1899 ; that the average money value of the articles which 

 a farmer buys was about 12.1 per cent higher in 1909 than in 1899; 

 and consequently, as a result of the greater increase in price of what 

 a farmer sells than in price of what he buys, the net increase in the 

 purchasing power of the produce of 1 acre was 54 per cent ; that is, 

 the product of one acre in 1909 would exchange for 54 per cent larger 

 quantity of the things farmers buy than the product of 1 acre in 1899. 

 So much public interest has been evinced in this line of inquiry, 

 bearing so closely upon the subject of the " cost of living," that it 

 has been continued during the past two years. 



Although the aggregate production of crops in 1911 was about 

 6.3 per cent smaller than in 1910 and 0.5 per cent smaller than in 

 1909, the total money value of crop production in 1911, by reason 

 of enhancement in prices, was about 2.1 per cent greater than in 

 1910 and 3 per cent greater than in 1909. According to a report of 

 the Bureau of the Census the value of all crops in the United States 

 in 1909 was about $5,487,000,000; on this basis it is estimated that the 

 money value of all crops in 1910 was about $5,537,000,000, and of 

 crops in 1911, $5,054,000,000. 



The money value of 1 acre of produce in 1911 averaged about 

 $15.48, as compared with $15.50 in 1910, $15.99 in 1909, and $9.48 

 in 1899. The larger aggregate value of crops in 1911 than in 1910 

 and 1909 was due to increased acreage. 



An investigation of prices of about 85 articles generally purchased 

 by farmers indicates that such articles averaged in price in 1911 

 about 1.1 per cent higher than in 1910, 2.6 per cent higher than in 

 1909, and about 15.3 per cent higher than in 1899. 



Taking into consideration the variation in the price of things 

 which farmers buy and in the things which farmers sell, it appears 

 that the purchasing power of 1 acre of crops in 1911 was 1.2 per 

 cent less than in 1910, 5.7 per cent less than in 1909, and 41.6 per cent 

 greater than in 1899. 



