206 
Statistics  of  the  Corn  Trade. 
wages  to  feed  and  otherwise  look  after  the  poultry,  collect  their 
eggs,  &c.,  although  the  average  number  kept  was  86  fowls,  37 
ducks,  &c.,  and  70  pigeons.  Of  course  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  prices  in  Mecklenburg  are  very  different  from  what  they 
are  in  England  ; but  it  is  curious  to  find  so  accomplished  and 
accurate  a bookkeeper  as  Mrs.  Bergell  calculating  the  profit  on 
the  basis  of  Table  II.  alone.  She  rejoices  in  calculating  that 
the  average  net  profit  of  the  five  years  was  59*3 1 per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  the  stock  (namely,  56'57  in  1875-6,  38'84  in  1876-77, 
111-29  in  1877-78,  64-80  in  1878-79,  and  40-49  in  1879-80), 
and  so,  no  doubt,  it  was,  as  an  accessory  for  the  utilisation  of 
things  and  time  that  would  otherwise  have  been  wasted.  But  it 
would  be  a lamentable  mistake  to  infer  that  if  she  increased  her 
stock  indefinitely  on  the  same  land,  her  profits  would  continue 
as  great  in  proportion  to  the  capital  employed. 
Table  III.  (p.  205)  shows  that  the  average  number  of  eggs 
obtained  from  each  hen  was  under  50,  and  that  the  price  ob- 
tained for  them  was  only  about  \d.  each,  while  that  received  for 
chicken  was  not  more  than  8c?.  On  the  other  hand,  the  price 
of  the  corn  given  them,  nearly  half  a bushel  per  hen  (exactly 
17^  litres),  is  given  at  only  Is.  3d.  per  annum. 
VII. — Diagrams  showing  the  Fluctuations  in  the  recorded  Weeklg 
Average  Prices  of  Wheat  from  1863-1882  inclusive.  By 
Henry  Allnutt,  3,  Holland  Road,  Kensington. 
The  following  Diagrams  showing  the  fluctuations  in  the  weekly 
imperial  average  price  of  wheat  per  quarter,  in  each  year  from 
1865  to  1882,  have  been  prepared  differently  from  those  which 
were  compiled  in  previous  years  for  this  ‘Journal,’  and  which 
do  not  give  a correct  idea  of  the  amount  of  the  fluctuations  ; 'the 
intervals  between  the  dots  (ascending  or  descending)  in  those 
diagrams  were  of  uncertain  value,  the  distances  being  solely 
influenced  by  the  number  of  quotations  in  the  prices.* 
In  the  diagrams  drawn  by  me  for  the  subsequent  years,  1865 
to  1882,  inclusive,  the  intervals  between  the  horizontal  lines 
are  all  of  equal  value,  viz.  4 d.  Thus,  if  the  rise  in  the 
price  in  the  week  has  been  6c/.,  it  is  shown  by  a space  and  a 
half;  or,  if  the  fall  has  been  2s.,  the  drop  from  one  dot  to  the 
other  equals  six  lines  or  spaces.  Thus  the  fluctuations  are 
drawn  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  the  rise  or  fall. 
The  figures  on  each  side  of  the  diagrams  are  shillings,  and 
* See  the  Journals  of  the  Society  for  the  years  1850  to  18G5  inclusive. 
