( XV ) 



THE PEICE OF PEOVISIONS. 



1st Quarter. — The price of wlieat fell progressively from 72s. del. 

 a quarter, in the months of July, August, and Sej^tember, 1856, to 

 59s. llfZ. in 1857, and to 44s. 7d. on an average in the corresponding 

 three months of 1858 ; the decrease of price being thus 38 per cent. 

 The price of beef by the carcase ot Lcadenhall and Newgate Markets 

 fell in the two years from o^Ci. to OjJ. a pound ; the price of mutton 

 from 6d. to od^., or 8 per cent. Potatoes (York Eegents) were sold 

 at the waterside market, Southwark, at 78s. a ton ; or 26 per 

 cent, less than the price of the same season in the previous year. 

 30 lbs. were sold in 1858 for a shilling; in 1857 only 21 lbs. The 

 price of potatoes was the same as in the corresponding quarter of 

 1856. 



2nd Quarter. — The prices of wheat continued to fall in the year 

 1858. AVheat was sold at 41s. 9d. a quarter on an average during 

 the last thirteen weeks of the year ; and the prices in the thirteen 

 corresponding weeks of 1856 and 1857 were 63s. -id., and 52s. 

 The fall was 34 per cent, in two years. Beef by the carcase 

 was 5-|f7., 5^., and 5ff7. per pound in the same seasons at Leaden- 

 hall and Newgate Markets ; mutton 5fc/., oft?., and 5-^. The 

 average prices of beef were stationary ; but the average prices 

 of the higher qualities fell from Gid. to 6-^d. ; the prices of the lower 

 qualities rose from 3f c?. to 4c?. Again, the price of the best mutton 

 by the carcase was 6ff?. at the beginning and the end of the period ; 

 while the price of inferior mtitton fell a halfpenny in the pound. 

 Potatoes, which are so important an article of food, were sold at the 

 rate of 100s., 140s., and 87s. 6d. a ton at the waterside market, 

 Southwark, in the last quarters of the three years 1856-7-8. 

 Potatoes have been 37 per cent, cheaper than they were in the 

 corresponding weeks of 1857, and 12 per cent, cheaper than they 

 were in 1856. 



