II1()l't‘ tllzlll tilt) l]lg'l1€I` ]_)I'1C€(l gI`H(l€S, tllllS 1l2Il'I`O\Vlllg _  
V / T l1
the spread between them. .;¤:7*_:_ T;f;j·;  ·····-· =>_‘
Differences in price, measured in percentage, have 60 ’,}’_,·'   / _
— . ` . . .- · ,· it “ ·
shown a fairly consistent decline throughout the 21 up _7 ,-
years for which prices are available. \Vhen measured 50 7·< _.·` rtw ·
» . . ~ 9)-*
nn dollars and cents, however, price differences re- 2 ,9 ‘i· _
. . . . . D v/ ·' .&'b··..
manned fairly constant throughout the 1940s while 2 In .°
. . . . 0 _· . -
average prices were rising. This may have been the K 4  _. y.».\ ,
effect of ceiling prices during the war and price- 5 Tl   {_ Ai,
supporting loans in the years that followed. A rather rtg so  
sudden narrowing of the price spreads took place in fj   wht.
1955 and 1956. This seems to be related to the nature ° 20 ’ A
. _ _ . (1
ot the tobacco produced in those years which was ot ’
unusuallv good smoking quality. 45*9
Three Characteristics of Leaf Indicated n we
Official government grades indicate three character- *955‘ *9‘**’ *9‘i6' *95** *954 *955 *959 *957 ‘, 9 
. . . . I939 I945 l95O i953 ¤"W*
nstics nn burley tobacco, the group of leaves to which _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
the mbllcco heh) rg im €l_ tive dit qud its C0lO_ Fig. 3.- Prices ot tour qualities of Lug tobacco. Price spreads gw
V ` _ ”_ u*"" ` I- A qu° y’ ‘ _ l` among most grades of Lugs always have been narrow but
V*¤<· s¤‘<>··1> is ·n·<*¤¤¤f¤<* by ¤ Mer. the quahty by ¤ were mm m.m...·a- tntmg the na time sa.sm.s. These —
figure and color by a letter. For example CBF stands grades are used in cigarettes. 5
for a 1.ug grade of third quality which is tan in color. is <
The accompanying graphs show average prices of se- vg
lected grades in two groups, Leaf in Fig. 2, and Lugs 60 f  
-.. . . - . ’ .° ' ' ,
nu l• ng.   Price differences on each chart are due pri- 6- _· ‘·_ *·
nnarily to the quality factor. The lines never cross each ,;‘   °·
other. That is, the grades retain their ranking in price O 50 _ »’/·  
' . ` [ ·| ,_ '
but sometimes two grades sell at the same price. The g {fz, _'* I- · *i*_
- . 0 .'
unusually narrow spread ot 1956 is apparent. Ptela- rx 40 _,’ . _· Ak
»' •
tively little tobacco is classed nn number 2 quality. ff, »' qt ,/`· ./ ,‘
a. %r/ -I .• W6,
E 30 /_ . .·· · J •,‘ V
Z ’ e*lt•‘°°° . ·°
· ·—— *“ /   °
( { _-(• ·.__: o _   I
60 ot ’," ’,.6· • 20 / ·_•
¢ ` ,' /.° . _• ‘
’f .". 9 f•.• ·.  
85F\"/ ·/ . _/• ., I.
50 x ’ .· '· -° *0 · .
O · . • • 6. ,—
Z »' a·‘.’ ·’   `
D I { .•°
S i r` .‘ I935· \94\· I946‘ |95l‘ I954 I955 I956 \957 gg
m 49 I//· ,,·.*_·° nsss ns4s nsso ness
if ,’ · .'· Fig. #1.- Prices of four colors of Leaf tobacco. The darker •
U, 30 ’ _/ _· colored Leaf grades sold at prices well below those of the
Q [ _·° lighter colors in the years before 1955. Better smoking qual- * ‘* · _
*3 ' .' ity of all Leaf grades in recent years has helped to narrow ‘ _
20 .’ the spread in prices. "
I Lg
I O Prices ot four Leaf grades which differ in color are
shown in Fig. 4 to indicate changes in the price spread · _
I935_ I94|_ |94G_ |g5|_ IQ54 ,955 lass ‘957 between dnllerent colors. It willlbe noted that color gw
ness ne4s neso ness dntlerences were quite large until 1955, very narrow
A ..» y l A . A I 4 I . . I ~` A
Fig. 2.- Prices of four qualities of Leaf tobacco. Better qual- m l9°9~ and thin wulu ilgam lu 1957: _
ity tobacco always sells at a higher price than that of poorer ·`\**Ot**°*` g*`*ll)** (Fl? 5) Shows l)*`*C€S Oi il C0*`*`*" 4*-+
quality. but the price spread has narrowed considerably for sponding grade in Lugs (C), Flying (X), Lcai (li). _
L<‘1¤** !.{\`¤¤i*¢`$· (Confinnucd 0n Page 14) Tr n V
vt-
12 Krzxrtncicr FARM ixxn lloxnc SCII·]NCE—Sl’RIN(l 1958 r
U