82 



FARM MANAGEMENT 



buys only 1.7 bushels. It would then buy 2.5 bushels 

 of oats ; now it buys only 2.2 bushels. 



Barley has decreased in price relative to other grains, 

 but during the past few years seems to be rising again. 

 (Table 81.) 



Horses have shown the most striking increase. Fifteen 

 years ago a horse would buy 156 bushels of oats ; now it 

 will buy 238 bushels. It would then buy 5.1 tons of hay ; 

 now it buys 8.7 tons. It would then buy 127 bushels of 

 corn ; now it buys 182 bushels. 



All these shifts in price affect the type of farming. The 

 area of wheat in the United States decreased 16 per cent 

 from 1899 to 1909 ; hay increased 17 per cent, corn 4 

 per cent, oats 19 per cent. The relatively low prices now 

 secured for wheat are doubtless the chief cause for its 

 decrease in acreage. 



TABLE 15. PRICES OF VARIOUS PRODUCTS COMPARED WITH 

 THE 1896-1900 PRICES AS 100 PER CENT. FROM TABLE 82. 



In Table 15 it is shown that since 1896 to 1900 the prices 

 of corn, oats, and eggs have been rising more rapidly than 

 the prices of wheat, beef, hogs, sheep, and butter. As 

 population increases, we must expect that grain will rise 

 in price relative to meat and butter. In China and Japan, 

 this process has gone so far as to practically eliminate 

 animal food except eggs and chickens. The hen is a 

 much more efficient user of food than other animals. 



