1920.] 



Agricultural Prices. 



609 



the pre-war level. In 1919 the upward movement continued, 

 but the rate of increase was somewhat checked. 



Turning to the other side of the account, the prices of farm 

 requisites, we find the following changes. Milling offals in 

 1914 rose 3 per cent., and in 1919 stood at 130 per cent, above 

 the level in 1911-13; barley meal and maize meal advanced 

 from an increase of 5 to one of 191 per cent. Linseed and cotton 

 seed cakes, which dropped by 5 per cent, in 1914, immediately 

 thereafter recovered and finally stood at 186 per cent, over the 

 pre-war average. Maize, with an initial rise of 2, finally touched 

 147 per cent. Brewers' grains, after a drop of 9 in 1914, 

 reached in 1919 a price 173 per cent, above that of 1911-13. 

 Sulphate of ammonia, having dropped 13 and 5 in the first 

 two years, rose to + 19 per cent, in 1916 and in 1919 stood 

 at + 18 per cent. Nitrate of soda, after a fall of 4 per cent, 

 in the first year, went as high as + 156 per cent, in 1918 and 

 in 1919 was marked at 114 per cent, above the 1911-13 

 average. Basic slag, showing no change in 1914, rose at 

 length to 110, and superphosphate advanced from 3 to 165 per 

 cent, over pre-war rates. It is shown that whereas the average 

 cost of the principal artificial manures, excluding lime, was 

 in 1911-12 £3 19s. per ton, in 1918-19 it rose to £6 18s. 9d., 

 and in 1919-20 to £8 14s. 6d. per ton — an increase of 121 per 

 cent, as compared with 1911-12. Seeds and machinery also 

 show a very considerable increase in price, although it is diffi- 

 cult to estimate with any accuracy as the quantities purchased, 

 are not known. 



The farmer's problem was complicated by the marked 

 advance in wages, and it is calculated that the average increase 

 by the end of 1919 was to be measured by a figure between 

 130 and 140 per cent, as compared with pre-war rates. To 

 sum up, the general rise in the price of farm produce sold was 

 about 158 per cent.; feeding stuffs increased by 184, fertilisers 

 by 121, seeds by 140, and machinery and implements probably 

 by 94 per cent., while the cash wages advanced to the figure 

 already stated — 130 to 140 per cent, above pre-war rates. It 

 is manifest that the better prices which the farmer obtains are 

 to a very large extent set off by the increased cost of what he 

 has to buy. 



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