In examining the price movements of wheat and corn for the last ten years, a gradually advancing trend is apparent. That such would be the case was a foregone conclusion; we naturally expect to find wheat and corn in the foremost ranks of a universal movement towards higher prices. The underlying causes for this general appreciation have already been extensively and clearly discussed in Moody’s Magazine. [5] Reprinted from MOODY’S MAGAZINE of May, 1906. _All Prices Advancing._ The price appreciation of wheat and corn is merely confirmatory of the theory that all prices are advancing, and that they will continue to advance until the balance between gold and other commodities is readjusted. But there is something else written between the lines of the statistics of price changes in wheat and corn. The _relative_ advance of the two cereals is all out of proportion. This fact leads us to seek for some specific cause operating either to depress one cereal or enhance the other, irrespective of the influence already named. The figures for the last ten years are as follows: WHEAT. Year High Average Low 1896 94⅜ 73¹¹/₁₆ 53 1897 109 86⁹/₁₆ 64⅛ 1898 185 123½ 62 1899 79½ 71¾ 64 1900 87½ 74½ 61½ 1901 79½ 71⁵/₁₆ 63⅛ 1902 95 81¼ 67½ 1903 93 81¾ 70¼ 1904 122 101¹⁰/₁₆ 81¼ 1905 124 100¹⁵/₁₆ 77⅞ 1906 94¾ 81⅞ 69⅛ CORN. Year High Average Low 1896 30⅝ 25¹/₁₆ 19½ 1897 32⅝ 27³/₁₆ 21¾ 1898 38 32 26 1899 38⅛ 34¹/₁₆ 30 1900 49½ 40 30½ 1901 67½ 51¾ 36 1902 88 65⅞ 43¾ 1903 53 47 41 1904 58⅛ 50⁷/₁₆ 42¾ 1905 64½ 53¼ 42 1906 54¾ 46¾ 39 The average price of wheat in the first year (1896) was 73 ¹¹/₁₆ in standard format, in the two following years very high prices were established, and the average may be considered abnormal, as the years 1897 and 1898 cover the rise and fall of Joseph Leiter. [Illustration: FLUCTUATIONS OF WHEAT PRICES FOR TEN YEARS. (The rims of the circles touch the high and low prices of wheat each year for 10 years.) Reproduced, by permission, from MOODY’S MAGAZINE of August, 1906.] To digress for a moment, it may be interesting to note that efforts to carry prices beyond reasonable limits almost invariably result in disaster to the promoters, no matter how far they may be successful in establishing black-board quotations. With the exception of “Old Hutch” wheat corner in 1888, all the numerous attempts to speculate successfully on wholly artificial prices in commodities, have failed. The Sully cotton campaign, the Leiter wheat deal, the Phillips corn deal, the Coster-Martin corn deal, all ended in ruin for their sponsors.