WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICES COMPARED. 



[From the Crop Reporter of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture for the Month of June.] 



The marked advance in prices during the last twenty 

 years, and consequent discussion of the cost of living, prompts 

 many persons to make inquiries concerning the difference be- 

 tween consumers' and producers' prices, and concerning 

 whether such differences have widened owing to the recent 

 increased prices. 



Most agricultural products before reaching the ultimate 

 consumer undergo some modification or manufacture. Wheat 

 is manufactured into flour, hogs are slaughtered and con- 

 verted into pork and lard, and many fruits and vegetables 

 are preserved or canned. Probably three-fourths of all pro- 

 ducts undergo some such modification between the primary 

 producer and the ultimate consumer. Eggs, milk, farm but- 

 ter, live poultry, and green fruits and vegetables comprise 

 practically all products which are purchased by the ultimate 

 consumer in the same form as sold by the producers, and 

 there are exceptions among these products ; for instance, milk 

 is frequently modified and bottled, and country butter is now 

 a relatively small portion of all the butter sold. 



In 1910 the Department of Agriculture made an investi- 

 gation of the farm, wholesale and retail prices of butter, 

 eggs, milk and poultry. From this investigation, which was 

 made in the last week of January, 1910, it appeared that con- 

 sumers in the 71 cities covered were paying an average of 

 about 38.1 cents per dozen for fresh eggs, retail dealers were 

 paying about 32 cents, and near-by producers reported re- 

 ceiving an average of 30.4 cents; the average price received 

 by all producers of the United States, according to reports 

 of county correspondents of the Bureau of Statistics, was 

 28.9 cents per dozen. Near-by producers frequently receive 

 a premium over the prices of distantly shipped eggs ; also, 

 many farmers sell their eggs directly to the consumer, in 

 which cases the consumer's price and the producer's price 

 would be the same. The average price paid by the consum- 

 ers, 38.1 cents, was about 19 per cent higher than the price 



