85 



Years. 



1862 

 1863 

 1864 

 1865 



Value of crops. 



$706, 887, 495 



9.55, 764, 322 



1,440,415,435 



1,047,360,167 



Eate of gold. 



131 

 147 

 227 

 140 



Gold increase 

 per cent. 



12 



54 



38^ decrease , 



Inc'se value of 

 crops per cent. 



35 



50 



30. 4 decrease. 



The value of the crops of 1864 was $1,504,543,690; but in this table the 

 value of the crops of Kentucky was omitted, in order to compare the total value 

 with the preceding year, which did not embrace that State. In the comparison 

 now made betft'een 1864 and 1865 the full value of 1864 is considered, as both 

 these years embrace the crops of that State. 



We assumed that the difference between twelve per cent, increase in gold 

 value and thirty-five per cent, increase in the value of the crops for 1863, being 

 twenty-three per cent., showed the increased value given to the crops by the 

 war demand chiefly. 



It will be seen, then, that great as is the decrease in the value of the crop of 

 1865, (although so much greater in amount than the crop of 1864,) yet it is 

 still eight per cent, less than the decrease in the value of gold, although the 

 war demand has ceased. This fact indicates that the fall in prices which com- 

 menced a few months ago will continue, unless some cause tending to raise the 

 value of gold or to create a foreign demand for our crops will intervene. We 

 see nothing that gives such an indication. 



It is true that so long as manufactured goods and gold hold a price above the 

 ordinary rates — those previous to the war — that prices of agricultural products 

 cannot go down to what they were before the war. But as the raw material 

 for manufactures increases, all prices will have a downward tendency. 



Indeed, a great deal of the crops above estimated is without much present 

 demand, and to more certainly approximate to the true value of the crops the 

 prices will be again taken next summer. This is not ordinarily necessary, but 

 great changes demand it. 



It is the part of prudence with every farmer to "avoid entangling alliances" 

 with debt for things consumed as "store goods." Real estate, even in the 

 cities — and much less in the country — has not been inflated as personal 

 property, and hence the indicated coming changes will not affect it much. The 

 table published in this report of the increased value of real and personal 

 property in Cincinnati contains an instructive lesson, and serves as a guide to 

 purchasers. 



