312 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 



week, except those boarded in the farm-house, who were 

 generally hired by the year. Men, also, who looked after 

 the live stock were hired by the year. Weekly wages ranged 

 from tos. in Wilts, and Dorset to i8j. in Lancashire, and 

 averaged 13.?. 6d. for the whole country. 



The fall in the prices of agricultural produce is best repre- 

 sented in tabular form : 



TRIENNIAL AVERAGE OF BRITISH WHEAT, BARLEY, AND 



OATS PER QUARTER. 



Wheat. Barley. Oats. 



s. d. s. d. s. d. 



1876-8 49 9 38 4 25 6 



1893-5 24 I 24 o 16 9 



Thus wheat had fallen 52 per cent., barley 37, and oats 34. 



TRIENNIAL AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CATTLE, PER 



STONE OF 8 LB. 



Inferior quality. Second quality. First quality. 



s. d. s. d. s. d. 



1876-8 45 56 60 



1893-5 28 40 47 



Or a fall of 24 per cent, in the best quality, and 40 per 

 cent, in inferior grades. 



The decline in the prices of all classes of sheep amounted 

 on the average to from 20 to 30 per cent., and in the price of 

 wool of from 40 to 50 per cent. ; that is, from an average of 

 is. 6d. a Ib. in 1874-6, to a little over gd. in 1893-5. 



Milk, butter, and cheese were stated to have fallen from 25 

 to 33 per cent, between 1874 and 1891, and there had been a 

 further fall since. In districts, however, near large towns there 

 had been much less reduction in the price of milk. 



This general fall in prices seems to have been directly/ 

 connected with the increase of foreign competition 1 . Wheat( 



1 Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners (1897), xv. 53, 85. Sir Robert 

 GifFen suggested that the decline in the price of wheat may be partly 

 attributed to the great increase in the supply and consumption of meat. 



