1922.] 



The Farmer and Home-grown Foods. 



787 



l^impi^ though this calculation be. it is realised that not all 

 farmers possess the necessary tables — or the time, to work out 

 the unit cost for all the foods they may be offered. To eliminate 

 the arithmetic, the accompanying diagrams have been devised. 



To avoid confusion in using the diagrams onlv five foods are 

 shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Similar curves could, of course, be 

 constructed for any food in which a farmer is particularly 

 interested, the necessary data being obtained from suitable 

 tables.* 



Method of Using the Diagrams. — The diagrams show at a 

 glance the price per unit starch equivalent corresponding to any 

 price per ton of a foodstuff., or per quarter of grain. To take a 

 concrete case, a farmer has some barlev and considers whether 

 to feed it, or to sell it and buy maize meal for his cows. He is 

 offered 35s. per quarter for his barley and can buy maize meal 

 at ^11 per ton. Selling his barley involves carting to a station 

 or mill or elsewhere, so the grain really stands him at less 

 than 35s. on the farm, while against this has to be put the cost 

 of pjrindinpj should he feed it. On the other hand, railway 

 carriage and carting would increase the cost of the maize meal, 

 and £11 10s. could be fairly taken as its cost on the farm. 



Taking Fig. 1 he looks up the vertical line, until he sees the 

 position corresponding to £11 10s. He then runs his pencil 

 liorizontallv across to the line marked Maize Meal." and from 

 the point of intersection draws his pencil vertically downwards 

 to the horizontal line. The point at which this horizontal line 

 is touched represents the price per unit starch equivalent of the 

 maize meal. 



He now turns to Fig. 2 and reverses the process. On the 

 horizontal line he finds the point representing the same price 

 per unit starch equivalent as the maize meal would cost. 

 He then moves his pencil vertically until it meets the line 

 marked *' Barley," and from there moves horizontally and to 

 the left until until his pencil crosses the vertical line representing 

 " Price per Quarter." If the price offered is less than that indi- 

 cated by the diagram, it will pay the farmer to feed his barley, 

 but if, on the other hand, the price offered is higher, then he 

 should by all means sell and buy maize meal for his cows. 



* 0) Pamphlet No. 73, published by the University of Leeds, which can 

 be obtained free on application to The Department of Aiiricultiire, Tni 

 vprsitv, Leeds, 



f;^) Miscellaneous Publication No. 32, published b}- the Ministry, price 6d. 



(3) The table on p. 841 of this Journal. 



(4) The Agricultural Market Report, issued weekly by the Ministry, 

 price 2(1. 



B 2 



