CROP YIELDS AND PRICES III 



time there is much land that is not worth farming that should be 

 reforested, but not much of this is in crops at the present time. 

 We still have much undeveloped land, but not of the kind that 

 was opened in the Central West. We must now work for our 

 new land and must be willing to pay the corresponding prices for 

 the products. 



PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS 



Comparative prices for J ^ years. The wholesale prices in cities, 

 of corn, wheat, cotton, potatoes, oats, hogs, beeves, sheep, butter, 

 and eggs, from 1 840 to 1 9 1 2 inclusive, are given in Table 5 . Details 

 as to where the figures were obtained are given in the footnotes to 

 the table. The average prices for the 73 years and the average 

 prices for the last 8 years considered were as shown in Table 6. 



6 Prices of hogs are for "good to prime" in New York, 1840 to 1870 (Senate Report, 

 p. 28). Prices 1871 to 1889 are for Chicago (Senate Report, p. 29). Prices 1S90 to 1912 are 

 for "heavy" hogs in Chicago (U.S. Dept. Labor, Bulletin 114, p. 94). The prices in New 

 York are a little higher than in Chicago, hence the figures before 1871 are a little high. 

 The prices are given for both cities for 1871 to 1891. The New York average for these 

 twenty-one years is nearly 10 per cent higher than the Chicago average. The prices for 

 Chicago from both references are given for 1890 and 1891. In these two years there is a 

 difference of only i per cent (see footnote 11). 



7 Prices of beeves are for " good to prime " in New York for 1840 to 1891 (Senate Report, 

 p. 25). For 1892 to 1912 the prices are for " good to choice" in Chicago (U.S. Dept. Labor, 

 Bulletin 114, p. 93). The prices in New York are a little higher than those in Chicago. 

 The prices are available for both cities in 1890 and 1891. In these two years the New York 

 prices were 14 per cent higher than the Chicago prices. The prices in the table before 1892 

 are a little too high for exact comparison with the later prices (see footnote 11). 



8 Sheep prices 1853 to 1891 are for " good to choice " in Cincinnati (Senate Report, p. 31). 

 Prices 1896 to 1912 are for "good to extra" (U.S. Dept. Agr., Year Book, 1900, p. 830; 

 1905, p. 747 ; 1909, p. 580 ; 1912, p. 694). 



9 Prices of butter 1840 to 1890 are for Boston from Monthly Summary of Commerce 

 and Finance of the United States, May, 1900, Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Depart- 

 ment, p. 3153. Prices for 1891 to 1912 are for "state dairy, tubs, finest" in New York 

 (U.S. Dept. Labor, Bulletin 114, p. 98). The prices are given for both cities for 1890 to 

 1898. For these nine years the prices were almost the same in both cities. They average 

 less than 3 per cent higher in Boston. The figures are therefore comparable. 



1 Prices of eggs 1857 to 1895 ^""^ fT Boston from Monthly Summary of Commerce and 

 Finance of the United States, May, 1900, Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department, 

 p. 3155. Prices for 1896 to 1901 are for "best fresh" in New York (U.S. Dept. Agr., 

 Year Book, 1900, p. 835 ; 1905, p. 755 ; 1909, p. 588 ; 1912, p. 689). The prices are given for 

 both cities for 1896 to 1898. For these three years the prices are nearly alike. In one year 

 Boston was higher and in two years New York was higher. The prices therefore appear to 

 be comparable. 



11 The errors due to the change of cities in the case of beef and hogs would apparently 

 make a difference of 2 per cent in the comparative price of all products. The opposite 

 change in the price of potatoes would partly offset this. The percentages representing 

 comparative prices from 1840 to 1891 are probably 2 per cent too high. 



