£Ast OF THE Mississippi rivee. 



571 



The greatest vuriation here shown occurred between the years 1864 

 and 1865, when there was a reduction of 26 per cent. This was a phe- 

 nomenal year in the wool trade, caused by the close of the war, heavy 

 importations, and a large stock of woolen goods on hand in factories, 

 with but small demands. Excluding this year, the greatest change in 

 any one year was in 1873, when the decline from the preceding year was 

 22 per cent. The greatest discrepancy in prices is shown in comparing 

 the years 1864 and 1885. In the former year wool was $1.00 ; in the 

 latter, 32 cents. 



The following will show the average price of a bushel of wheat 

 according to the report of the Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati : 



Wheat, per huskel. 



The greatest variation in j)rices here shown was in 1866, when wheat 

 advanced 49 cents a bushel, or 28 per cent, and in 1870, when it 

 declined 43 cents, or 38 per cent. 



Between the same years, 1864 to 1881, the greatest variation in oats 

 was 35 per cent; in corn, 52 per cent; in hay, 53 per cent. A compar- 

 ison with hogs and beef cattle shows quite as favorably. 



The report of the Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati gives tlie aver- 

 age prices of hogs from 1864 to 1881, as follows : 



Hogs, per 100 pounds. 



Here the greatest variation was in 1865, when hogs advanced 109 per 

 cent, and in 1879, when they declined 68 per cent. The extremes of 

 prices are found in these two years of 1865 and 1879. In the former 

 year hogs were $11.69; in the latter $2.86. In 1865 a hog sold for more 

 than four times the price it could command in 1879. The greatest ex- 

 tremes of wool were, as shown, $1 and 32 cents, or sUghtly more 

 than three times higher at its highest figure than at its lowest. 



