8 
BULLETIN" 1480, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
the results of these tAvo inquiries were compared for individual 
States, the average value of swine of all ages obtained by the old 
method was lower than that obtained by the subclass method. A 
similar comparison between the value of all cattle on the basis of the 
inquiry which has been used beginning with 1894 and the value as 
obtained by a more detailed subgrouping showed that the price ob- 
tained by the old method was higher than that obtained in the new 
wa y- 
The source of the information and the wording of the inquirjr 3 
influence the price quotation. For example, the monthly price of 
horses, as determined from the reports of the regular price reporters 
of the department when they are asked for the " average prices paid 
to producers in your market," is usually considerable higher than 
the January 1 value obtained from the crop correspondents, who are 
MONTHLY PRICE AND JANUARY I VALUE OF HORSES 
DOLLARS 
PER 
HEAD 
175 
150 
125 
100 
75 
50 
25 
O - 
' 
-r¥p/ v 
J \A 
™ New York monthly price 
*~* New York Jon.l values 
— Indiana monthly prices 
—° Indiana Jon.l values 
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Fig. 1. — Both price series show the general downward trend of horse prices during the 
last 17 years, as well as the change in relationship between horse prices in the two 
States 
requested to report the "average price per head of horses in your 
locality " by age groups. The 15th-of -the-month price represents 
more nearly the price at which horses were being bought and sold in 
a given locality and would tend to be higher than the January 1 price, 
which is really an estimate of the average value of all horses of a 
certain age on farms in that locality. 
The same difference exists between milk-cow prices. Figures 1 and 
2 show that while the monthly prices of milk cows and horses vary 
considerably and tend to have a seasonal movement, the general 
trend indicated by the series is practically the same as that of January 
1 values. 
3 The price schedules now being used by the department may be obtained upon request 
addressed to the Division of Crops and Livestock Estimates, Bureau of Agricultural 
Economics, Washington, p. C. 
