If the present high level of the prices of agricultural products continues, the new generation will need to have explained to them what was meant by the expression "the poor farmer." The figures given by Secretary Wilson are truly beyond comprehension: $8,760,000,000x is said to be the value of the products of the farm for 1909. The value of the annual crop, of course, depends upon the number of units produced and the price per unit. In the case of a few crops the number of units produced in 1909 was not quite so large as it had been in some previous year, yet gen? erally, because of the higher price per unit, the value of each crop was greater than ever before. To the consumer, however, the price per unit, not the total value, is the significant thing. An effort will here be made to trace the price of the various food products at three different levels, at the farm, at wholesale, and at retail.