Purchasing Power of Apples 
During the entire period from 1910 to 1930 there 
were only two years when the purchasing power of apples 
exceeded the average for 31 farm products. These years 
were 1911 and 1914 with apples ten points above in the 
former and only one point above in the latter. For the 
other nine years apples had a purchasing power of one 
to twenty-eight points below that of farm products in 
general. The lowest purchasing power was reached during 
the two war years 1918 ana 1917, during both of which, 
the total crop, as well as the commercial apple crop, 
was relatively low. 
The index number on the other hand constantly in¬ 
creased during the latter half of this decade reaching 
the high point of 213 in 1930. The accompanying chart 
shows graphically hew unreliable is the index number of 
prices received for any commodity when used independently 
of purchasing power as a basis for comparison,. To be of 
real significance the price must be interpreted in units 
of ether commodities that can be purchased by a bushel, 
a barrel, or ton of the product in question. 
There was a decrease in purchasing power of farm 
products from 1910 to 1930, ana an even greater decrease 
in the purchasing power of apples when measured by com¬ 
modities which the farmer purchased. A comparison with 
