38 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 



Prices. 

 The reduction of arable land, and of the 

 wheat-growing area in particular, which set 

 in between 1871 and 1881 was accompanied 

 by a fall in prices. The following table gives 

 the average annual prices of wheat for each 

 quinquennium from 1866 to 1910 : — 



Average Prices of Wheat per Quarter. 



In 1869 the last vestige of the Corn Laws 

 in the shape of the is. duty, which had been 

 in force since 1849, disappeared ; but it can- 

 not be shown that this exercised much or any 

 influence in lowering prices. In 1869 the price 

 was 48s. 2d. and in the next year it fell to 

 46s. iid., but after that it rose during the 

 next four years, mainly through the increased 

 demand which followed the Franco-German 

 war and the unparalleled industrial prospe- 

 rity. After 1874 it fell again progressively 

 and almost continuously until it reached the 

 low-water mark of 22s. lod. in 1894. After 

 this a process of recovery, not steady but 

 distinct, set in. The fall in prices unques- 

 tionably produced the reduction in this crop. 



