102 
Wheat  Prices  and  the  World’s  Production. 
century  we  find  enormous  variations  ; 112«.  in  1800,  57s.  in 
1803,  123s.  in  1812,  44s.  in  1822  (see  Chart  A).  Then  for 
fifty  years  the  prices  fiuctuate  up  and  down  between  40s.  and 
75s.,  with  an  average  of  about  55s.,  while  in  the  last  thirty  years 
of  the  last  century  they  drop  with  fiuctuations  to  about  25s. 
If  again  we  plot  on  the  same  chart  a curve  showing  the 
variation  in  prices  of  commodities  in  general,  we  shall  find 
that  the  two  correspond  on  the  average  until  about  the  year 
1850.  This  means  that,  although  the  wheat  producer  was 
getting  less  cash  for  his  product,  that  the  value  of  his  money 
in  other  goods  was  increased.  He  was,  in  fact,  really  not 
worse  off  on  account  of  the  fall  in  prices. 
From  about  1850  until  1873  the  curve  of  general  prices 
rises,  while  that  of  wheat  prices  continued  to  fall,  so  that 
measured  in  terms  of  other  commodities,  the  real  value  of 
wheat  fell  more  than  the  money  price.  In  1873  general  prices 
again  began  to  fall  until  the  year  1896,  but  again  the  money 
price  of  wheat  fell  more  quickly.  Wheat  was  therefore  still 
becoming  cheaper  for  the  consumer,  while  the  producer  was, 
of  course,  getting  a diminished  quantity  of  goods  for  his  wheat. 
Suddenly  in  the  middle  of  the  last  decade  of  the  century 
both  curves  began  to  rise.  Evidently  some  influence  had  come 
into  play  changing  the  money  value  of  commodities  in  an 
upward  direction,  and  looking  at  the  respective  dates,  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  to  some  extent  at  all 
events,  the  rise  was  due  to  the  enormous  increase  of  the  world’s 
production  of  gold,  especially  in  South  Africa. 
We  have  no  space  to  attempt  the  colossal  task  of  accounting 
fully  for  the  movements  of  prices  which  we  have  outlined 
above,  but  the  main  stages  in  the  development  of  wheat  pro- 
duction both  at  home  and  abroad  must  be  known  if  we  are  to 
appreciate  the  present  position  of  the  world’s  wheat  problem. 
The  century  includes  four  periods  each  with  characteristic 
features  of  its  own. 
First  period. — For  nearly  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Great  Britain  depended  almost  entirely  on  native 
grown  supplies  of  wheat.  We  had  practically  ceased  to  be  an 
exporting  country  before  the  end  of  the  previous  century,  and 
the  tendency  was  now  the  other  way.  The  thirty  years  1815- 
45  were  years  of  high  protection  for  the  British  farmer,  and  in 
consequence  the  corn  growing  area  embraced  all  land  that 
could  be  so  utilised,  while  the  methods  of  production  were 
much  improved.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  though 
the  population  trebled  between  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
and  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  England  was  almost 
able  to  grow  sufficient  food  at  home.  This  fact  testifies  to  the 
greatly  increased  productivity  of  agriculture,  which  was. 
