INDEX NUMBERS OF PRICES PAID TO PRODUCERS OF FARM 



PRODUCTS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The price of each farm product in each month as given in Table XVII is 

 divided by the five-year average before the war for that product. The resulting 

 index numbers are given in Table XVIII, pages 47 to 55. 



These index numbers may be compared directly with the general price level 

 as shown in Table II, page 3, and may be compared with each other, or with 

 prices of any other commodities. They are used in making the curves shown in 

 figure 13. Yearly averages are given at the end of the table. 



Table XVIII may }>e continued by obtaining the price of the farm product 

 in question from the Monthly Crop Reporter and dividing by the five-year 

 average for the same month before the war, as given in Table XVII. 



The weighted average is obtained by multiplying the index number for each 

 farm product by the figures given below, adding the results, and dividing by 

 100: Corn, 6.1; oats, 2.5; wheat, 12.7; barley, 1; rye, 0.4; buckwheat, 0.2; flax- 

 seed, 0.6; beans, 0.7; broom corn, 0.1; cotton, 16.9; cotton seed, 2.3; hay, 2.5; 

 timothy seed, 0.1; clover seed, 0.2; cabbage, 0.2; onions, 0.2; potatoes, 3.2; 

 sweet potatoes, 0.7; peanuts, 0.4; apples, 3.5; chickens, 1.8; eggs, 4.3; butter, 

 11.3: milk cows, 2.4; beef cattle, 7.1; veal calves, 1.2; sheep, 0.8; lambs, 0.8; 

 wool, 1.5; hogs, 9.5; horses, 4.S. These weights are based on sales as indicated 

 by the Census of 1909. Deductions were made for seed and farm use. In some 

 cases one product representative of a class of products is given a weight repre- 

 sentative of the class. To be exact, the weighting should change each year and 

 each month, but the weighted average figure is little affected by differences in 

 the weights. In fact, the unweighted average is nearly always practically the 

 same as the weighted. 



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