THE PRICE OF WHEAT 



181 



ENGLISH PRICES. 

 STANDARD DEVIATION 



CO-EFFICIENT OF VARIATION 



MEAN YEARLY MOVEMENTS IN 

 INDEX NUMBERS 



374.663 

 19.35 



S. D. 

 Mean 

 19.35 

 116.3 X 

 16.6 



100 



1 

 100 



10 



4.3d. per bushel 

 8.6% of mean 

 annual price 



NEW ZEALAND PRICES 

 STANDARD DEVIATION = ^401.4706 



20.04 



CO-EFFICIENT OF VARIATION 



MEAN YEARLY MOVEMENT IN 

 INDEX NUMBERS 



S. D. 

 mean 

 20.04 

 105.5 : 

 19.0 



100 



1 



100 



16.12 



6.6d. per bushel 

 15.2% of mean 

 annual price 



In general, the above observations confirm the con- 

 clusion reached earlier in the chapter, that a wide area 

 of production adds materially to price steadiness. 



A closer examination of the price statistics of New 

 Zealand and English wheat confirms the conclusion we 

 have arrived at from a study of the corresponding 

 graphs. Taking the period 1881 to 1914, I have calcu- 

 lated the standard deviations for the index numbers of 

 wheat prices for England and New Zealand. For 

 English wheat the calculation gave a standard deviation 

 of 19-35, and for New Zealand wheat one of 20-04. 



