272 



JournaJ of Af/?'iciiltn7-e, Victoria. [10 May, 1916. 



Prior to the war the average price of freight from the principal 

 exporting countries was as follows: — 



New York 



Odessa . . 



Argentina 



India 



Australia (Sa'ler) 



Pacific Coast 



7s. 6d. per ton 



2|d. per bushel 



9s. 3d. per ton 



3d. per bushel 



, . 14s. 3d. per ton 



4id. per bushel 



, . 16s. 6d. per ton 



o^d. per bushel 



. 263. 2d. per ton 



8|d. per bushel 



. 28s. 2d. per ton 



9^d. per bushel 



Table VIII. 

 Fluctuations in Prices of Freights during War Period. 



Average of 

 5 years 



ending 19 13 



1914. 

 July 



1915. 



January 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



1916. 

 January 



Bombay. 



per 

 busheL 



Shillings 

 per 

 ton. 



d. s. d. 



2| 



2^ 



10^ 



10 



1 n 



1 8 

 I 8 



1 7 



1 8 



16 7 



12 



32 6 



46 



42 6 



42 6 



60 



70 



105 



per 

 bushel. 



.9. d. 



4 



lOi 



1 2| 



1 1| 



1 If 



1 7i 



1 lOi 



2 9^ 



Argentine. 



Australia (Sailer). 



Shillings 

 per 

 ton . 



26 2 



Price 



per 



bushel. 



s. d. 



81 



No Export 



(i2 6 

 70 

 75 



75 



1 8 



1 lOA 



2 0" 



2 



The above table summarizes the price of freights to Liverpool from 

 New York, Bombay, Argentine, Australia, for certain periods during the 

 war. 



It will be noticed that compared with rates for preceding five years 

 freic^ht was cheaper at the outbreak of war than it bad been for many 

 years past. The cost of freight has risen enormously during the war 

 period, especially in the Argentine, where freights for January, 1916. 

 were 140s. per ton, or 3s. 9d. per bushel, as compared with 10s. 6d. per 

 ton, or 3jd. per bushel, immediately before the war. 



The Australian freights v.'ere chartered by the Commonwealth Govern- 

 ment, but there was very limited freights at the figure officially 

 announced for sailers (75s. per ton). Steamer freights from Australia 

 on January were 105s. per ton (2s. 9d. per bushel), and have risen to 



