Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1917-07-13
PRICE HISTORY

/
the boy readers of Wallaces' Farmer
will now and then be telling their
children about the high prices during
the European war. The world has
not seen the like of present prices for
| over a hundred years. Our fathers
and grandfathers tell us that prices
were very high during the Civil war,
from 1S61-1S65. Up until 1914,
most Americans thought that we
would never again sec such high
prices in this country. But during
the Civil war, the highest price Of
wheat in Chicago was S2.95 per
bushel. Today, wheat is selling so
cents higher than this. The highest
price of corn during Civil war times
was $1.41, but today corn is nearly
80 cents higher than this. Oats.
however. reached 80 to 90 cents sew
eral times during the Civil war,
which is a somewhat higher price
than they have reached during the
present war.
For the most part, prices stayed
higher for several years following
the Civil war, but they went up and
down in very startling manner. The
corn crop sold, in 1864, for instance,
at around so to 80 cents a bushel,
whereas, the corn crop of 1866 sold
at close to 40 cents bushel, and that
of 1866 at 60 cents to 81 per bushel.
1t took the country about 10 years
to get down to basis where prices
stopped their extremely violent fluc-
tuations. In good crop years, prices
would go away down, but the slight
est scarcity would send them sky
high. This was true not only of oats
wheat and corn, but also of cattle
and hog prices.
A little over 100 years ago, Ma
poleon was shaking the world in
somewhat the same way as the world
Is being shaken today Just before
Napoleon began to stir things up,
wheat was selling at around 1925
per bushel in England, but during
the l5 years during which Napoleon
was active, wheat averaged around
S2.75 per bushel in England. At one
time it reached nearly SIS a bushel
However, there were times even dur
ing the midst of the Napoleonic wars
when wheat sold for less than 50 a
bushel. Even after Napoleon was
exiled, it was six or seven years be-.
fore wheat prices got back to normal.
During good crop seasons, in war
times, prices may not be so excessive
ly high but the slightest scarcity
sends them skyward with bound.
One reason why prices reached
such extraordinary heights during
the Napoleonic period was the fact
that there were serious crop failures
in 1900, 1909. 1910, 1911, and 1912.
During the first two years of the
present war, prices were held down
by exceedingly good wheat and poto-
to crops. But last year, the wheat
crop was 40 per cent smaller than it
was the preceding year, the corn crop
was IA per cent smaller than ii was
the preceding year, the oats crop 20
per cent smaller, the potato crop 20
per cent SIN mailer, and at the present
time the hog crop seems to be about
10 per cent smaller Under ordin-
airy conditions, to compensate for
such shortage, we would expect an
advance in wheat prices over the pre-
ceding year of about 100 per cent. of
corn prices about 20 per cent, of OATS
prices about 81 per cent, of potato
prices about 43 per cent, and of hog
prices about 80 per cent. Actually,
prices have gone considerably high
er than this, but this really is not
surprising in view of the acute short
age of foodstuffs over the entire
world.
We are making price history these
hhy II Tic SEASON during the next
three months is at all favorable. the
probabilities are that the world never
will see such high prices again dur
ing the next 40 or SO years. But il
we have a season like we had last
year, we may see prices next winter
twice as high as they are now. 1t
must be remembered that we get sea-
sons like that of last year only about
once in 10 years as a rule.
During war periods, farmers are
generally prosperous, and during the
four or five years Immediately Ior
lowing wars, they often get very good
prices. But there is a very serious
danger that about the time many of
the boys who are now reading Wal
laces' Farmer, begin to farm for
themselves, farming will come into a
very Improbable period The diff
Guilty is that during a period such as