100 
Wheat  Prices  and  the  World^s  Production. 
population  of  that  time,  but  it  is  purchased  at  a fraction  of  the 
price.  Moreover,  reliance  on  other  countries  for  our  food,  so 
far  from  causing  anxiety  to  the  consumer,  has  diminished  the 
likelihood  of  famine  by  diversifying  the  sources  of  supply. 
The  consumer  of  wheat  is  no  longer  dependent  on  the  vagaries 
of  the  British  climate,  but  is,  practically — leaving  out  the  risk 
of  war,  &c. — assured  of  a steady  and  certain  supply,  year  in 
and  year  out. 
The  influence  of  changing  conditions  is  best  seen  by  tracing 
in  outline  the  history  of  prices.  Two  broad  tendencies  are 
evident  at  once  from  the  most  casual  glance  at  the  figures.  In 
the  first  place  there  has  been  a continuous  fall  in  prices,  and 
in  the  second  an  increasing  steadiness  and  absence  of  big 
fluctuations.  These  two  tendencies  are  shown  by  the  following 
table,  which  represents  (i.)  average  prices  per  quarter  of  wheat 
in  England  and  Wales  for  periods  of  10  years,  (ii.)  the  highest 
and  lowest  annual  averages  during  the  same  periods,  and  (iii.) 
the  margin  between  the  highest  and  lowest  annual  average 
prices.’ 
A 
Average 
B 
Highest 
price 
C 
Lowest 
price 
D 
Difference 
between 
B and  C 
1800-1809. 
s.  d. 
84  8 
s.  d. 
119  6 
s.  d. 
58  10 
s.  d. 
60  8 
1810-1819. 
91 
5 
126  6 
65 
7 
60  11 
1820-1829. 
59  10 
68  6 
44 
7 
23  11 
1830-1839. 
56 
9 
70  8 
46 
2 
24 
6 
1840-1849. 
55  11 
69  9 
44 
3 
25 
6 
18.50-1859. 
53 
4 
74  8 
38 
6 
26 
2 
1860-1869. 
51  8 
64  5 
40 
2 
24 
3 
1870-1879. 
51 
4 
58  8 
43  10 
14  10 
1880-1889. 
37 
0 
45  4 
29 
9 
15 
7 
1890-1899. 
28 
9 
37  0 
22  10 
14 
2 
1900-1909. 
29 
5 
36  10 
26 
9 
10 
1 
In  the  first  column  the  price  of  wheat  is  seen  descending, 
at  first  rapidly,  then  more  slowly  until  the  decade  1870-9. 
After  that  it  quickly  falls  again  ; ending  up  with  a rise  in  the 
last  period.  The  second  and  third  columns,  showing  the 
highest  and  lowest  annual  average  prices,  move  in  a similar 
way,  and  the  last  column  shows  how  prices  have  become  more 
steady  during  the  century. 
If  we  construct  a chart  in  which  the  horizontal  distances 
represent  the  successive  years,  and  the  vertical  ones  the  price 
of  wheat,  we  get  a curved  line  which  represents  very  graphic- 
ally the  fluctuations  of  prices.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
' In  compiling  the  following  table,  and  in  collecting  the  data  on  which  this 
article  is  based,  I have  received  valuable  assistance  from  Mr.  C.  K.  Hobson,  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  who  has  made  a special  study  of  this  subject. 
