64 
The Middleman in Agriculture. 
price of bread changed were as follows, the official average 
price of English wheat, as recorded at the same dates, being 
added : — 
Bread Wheat 
Date per 4 lb. loaf per quarter 
April 18, 1891 . 
8. 
. 0 
d. 
5* 
X. 
39 
d. 
0 
April 25, 1891 . 
. 0 
6' 
40 
1 
May 23, 1891 . 
. 0 
5£ . 
39 
6 
August 21, 1891 
. 0 
6 
40 
3 
February 10, 1892 
. 0 
. 
32 
3 
April 30, 1892 . 
September 3, 1892 
. 0 
5 
31 
3 
. 0 
6 
29 
1 
It may fairly be assumed that bakers do not sell bread at a 
loss, and that when they charge 6d. per 4 lb. loaf for bread, 
with wheat at 40s. per quarter, they are making a profit. It is 
seen that from August 1891 to February 1892 the price of 
bread was maintained at 6d. per 4 lb. loaf. In the first week 
of September 1891 wheat rose to an average price of 41s. 8 d., 
which was the highest average of 1891. But it immediately 
declined, and, before the close of September it had fallen 7s. 
During the last three months of the year (October to December) 
the average price of English wheat was returned at 36s. 8 d. In 
1892 the average receded from 36s. 4 d. at the beginning of 
January to 32s. 3d. at the middle of February. Whilst, there- 
fore, the average price of wheat was gradually declining from 
41s. 8 d. to 32s. 3d., a fall of nearly 10s. per quarter, the price 
of bread was maintained throughout the period of six months at 
6d. per 4 lb. loaf. A halfpenny was then taken off the price, 
which stood at h\d. per 4 lb. loaf for the next twelve weeks, 
during which the average Gazette price of English wheat was 
exactly 32s. per quarter, the extremes being 33s. 3d. and 30s. 7 d. 
Bread was reduced to 5 d. at the end of April, and has remained 
at that price since. During the same period the average price 
of wheat has been 29s. lid., and the extremes have been 
31s. 7 d. and 29s. Id. If it paid the baker to sell a quartern 
loaf of bread for 6d. when wheat averaged 40s. per quarter, it 
must have paid him much better during the last five months 
(April to September) to be selling bread at 5 d. while wheat has 
averaged less than 30s. In other words, w’hilst the price of 
wheat fell one-fourth the price of bread fell only one-sixth. 
Mr. David Chadwick, who has given special attention to the 
subject, states that the following has been and is the current 
average price of bread of good quality, delivered over the 
counter for cash, in the years specified, and I have added thereto 
for reference the average price of wheat in the same years : — 
