'254: Journal op the Department oe Agriculture. 



Eggs. — At Johanuesburg the 1919 prices were higliest, being 

 from od. to 9d. higher than the 1920 ones, which again were about 

 the same in 1921. In Capetown the maximum price shows a pro- 

 gressive rise of 3d. each year, at Bloemfontein the same tendency as 

 at Capetown is observed, except that the increase between 1919 and 

 1921 is greater, being from 9d. to Is., and at Durban the maximum 

 prices of 1920 and 1921 are 8d. and 5d. greater respectively than 

 1919. 



Butter. — There was a large difference in the Johannesburg prices 

 of 1919 and 1920, the latter being more than double the former, but 

 tliere is a decided decline again in 1921, when the price was greater 

 than that of 1919 by from 4d. to 9d. only. At Capetown the 1920 

 prices were exactly 100 per cent, greater than those of 1919, and 

 although there has since been a decline the maximum 1921 price is 

 still Is. greater than that of 1919. The ]31oemfontein prices reflect 

 those of Johanesburg, excepting that the difference between the 1919 

 and 1921 prices is somewhat larger at the former centre. Durban is 

 more or less similar to Capetown, but the decline between 1920 and 

 1921 is negligible, being 2d. per lb. for best butter. 



Beef. — Compared with 1919, the maximum 1920 Johannesburg 

 price was 50 per cent, greater and the 1921 price 30 per cent, greater. 

 At Capetown the maximum 1920 and 1921 prices are identical, each 

 being Id. in excess of 1919. This is the position in Bloemfontein, 

 the excess on 1919, however, being 3d. Similarly in Durban, the 

 1920 and 1921 prices are the same, but the increase on the 1919 price 

 is greater than at the other centres. 



Mutton. — At Johannesburg minimum and maximum prices 

 moved in svmpathy : the 1920 maximum was 7d. higher than the 



1919 one, but had fallen in 1921 to Id. lower than in 1919. At 

 Bloemfontein the 1919 and 1921 maximum price is identical, that of 



1920 being 3d. higher. At Durban there w^as a progressive increase 

 of about 4d. each year, the 1921 price being 7fd. higher than the 

 1919 one. At Capetown the minimum price of 8d. in 1919 was 9d. 

 in 1921 and lOd. in 1920, but unlike most other commodities the 

 maximum 1920 price was 2d. and 4d. less respectively than those of 



1921 and 1919. 



Sii/innary. — The prices at mid-January shown in the statement 

 were obtained from market reports and are actual prices ruling at a 

 definite date and are not averaged in any way. It is possible, there- 

 fore, that there may have been certain local factors affecting prices 

 at any or all of the centres on the dates in question of which this 

 J'epartment is not aware. But the outstanding feature the returns 

 reflect is the great effect on our production of the 1918-19 drought at 

 its height, when prices generally were double those of a year previous ; 

 wheat, maize, oats, lucerne, and butter show this, and though in 

 some cases the present-day prices have reached the pre-drought level, 

 there is still a tendency for prices to remain somewhat higher than 

 those of 1919. Potatoes showed a great increase in 1920, and while 

 prices have fallen they are still far in excess of 1919. Beef increased 

 jn 1920, but no decline is seen in 1921, but in mutton Johannesburg 

 and Bloemfontein prices show a decline to-day over those of 1919 ; 

 the position is reversed in Durban, while at Capetown at the height 

 of the drought the price was lower than both that of 1919 and 1921. 

 In regard to eggs the general tendency has been towards an increase 

 in price, due in a measure to the export trade in this article. 



