asked the President of the Board of Trade, in respect of London and also of typical provincial towns, the present margins of price between wheat, flour and bread respectively; and the corresponding figures for 1914 and for 1918?

I regret that the data available with regard to prices at which wheat and flour of similar quality were sold at particular plaices at the times indicated in the question are not sufficient to serve as the basis of comparable calculations of the margins between wheat and flour. Further, such calculations would require, in addition, information regarding the prices of milling offals. The different kinds of flour used by bakers of bread, and the varying amount of bread made from any specified quantity of flour, might render calculations of the margins between flour and bread untrustworthy for the purposes of such bread comparisons

—	London.*		Manchester.*		Hull.*		Glasgow.*
	Shillings per cwt.		Shillings per cwt.		Shillings per cwt.		Shillings per cwt.
	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.
British wheat, March, 1930	8	7	9	4	8	0	8	7½
British wheat, March,1918	17	0½	17	0	16	11	16	4
British wheat, March,1914	7	7	7	7	7	5	6	9
	Prices converted to shillings per cwt.
Imported wheat:			Live pool.
Northern Manitoba (No. 2), March, 1930	10	1	†		10	0	9	9
	(ex ship).				(c.i.f.).		(No. 3c.i.f.).
Northern Manitoba (No. 2), March,1918	18	1	†		†		†
	(landed).
Northern Manitoba (No. 2), March,1914	8	6	8	4	8	5½	8	7
Argentine, March, 1930	9	4½	8	9	8	9½	†
	(ex ship).		(spot).		(futures c.i.f.).
Argentine, March,1918	18	4	†		†		†
	(landed).
Argentine, March,1914	8	4	†		8	3½	†
	(to arrive).
	Shillings per sack of 280 lbs.
							Imported Spring Patent.
Flour, straight run, March, 1930	35	0	—		36	0	34	0
							Government Regulation.
Flour, home-milled Government Regulation, March, 1918.	44	3	—		44	3	51	9
							Canadian Patent.
Flour,(subsidised and controlled price) household, March, 1914.	27	0	—		25	0	26	0
	Pence per 4 lb. loaf.
			Manchester.
Bread, March, 1930	8–8½		‡		‡		‡
Bread, March,1918 (controlled price)	9		9		9		9
Bread, March,1914	5½		5½		5½		6
* "Gazette Average" at English Centres, Fiars Prices at Glasgow.
† No quotations.
‡ The retail price of bread in individual towns, other than London, is not available; the prices Most generally charged at the beginning of March, 1930, in the towns specified were 8½d. or 9d.

NOTE.—The average declared value of the wheat imported into the United Kingdom during the months of December, January and February immediately preceding the dates for which price quotations are given above were as follows:—December, 1929–February, 1930, 10s. 7d. per cwt., December, 1917–February, 1918, 17s. 10½d. per cwt., December, 1913–February, 1914, 7s. 10d. per cwt.