30 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 1G, 1904.. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices in the London Market. 



The following ivjioit on the Loncioii Drug and 

 Spice Market during the months of October ami 

 November has been contributed by i\Ir. J. K. Jackson, 

 A.L.S. The last report (for September) of this series 

 will be found in the A;irirtiltu ml Kews, Vol. II, 

 p. ;36(J :— 



In the uiuivdidalilo alisonce from the Agrirultitral Xi'im 

 of my notes on the London drug and .spice .sales during 

 October last it will not be necessai-y, at this period, to 

 review in detail the markets of that month, e.vcept where 

 they have a bearing iqion the sales of the month of 

 No\ ember now under review, or in the case of a few .special 

 articles. 



Thus in the earl}- part of October good West Indian 

 kola nuts .sold at 6(/. for good, bokl bright, nine bags being 

 disjiosed of at this date : while a barrel of good .sold at -f'-lil., 

 and .some odd packages of mouldy and damaged fetched 

 jirices ranging from 4]'/. to A'l'K per 11). These jirices varied 

 slightly during the remainder of the month, the quotations 

 at the .sale on the 1 4th. being as follows : for good bright, 

 5A(f. : fair, 5rf. to Sj*/., and mouldy, id. to i'l<L 



Sarsaparilla at the first sale in October sold at j>rices 

 ranging from 9(/. for damaged Jamaica to l.<. \(l. ; while 

 some L'S l)ales badly sea-damaged and mouldy Lin)a Jamaica 

 sold at 3it/. 



On October 14, over 300 barrels of manufacturing 

 8t. Vincent arrowroot was sold at id., and -"lO tons at ."i.',!/. 



The demand for ginger during the month was never 

 very great. .\t the sale on the Ttli. fair, washed, rough (.'ocliin 

 ■was ipioted at 30.<., and slightly mouldy cuttings at 26jt. 

 Of 277 barrels of Jamaica offered, only four .sold at 52.s. Qd. 

 for good middling. 



At the first sale in Xovendier no Jamaica ginger was 

 offered and there was little or no demand for the article of 

 anv grade ; ■■'>f^G bags of Cochin were offered and bought in at 

 34.«. for good, washe<l rough, and 30.^'. for good cuttings. In 

 addition to this, •")3 cases of small cut were al.so offered and 

 bought ill at 4.").s-. The market remained practically in the same 

 dull condition throughout the month, and at the last auction 

 Cochin ginger was quoted at much lower jirices, about 

 1,000 bags being bought in ; oS barrels of .laniaica were 

 offered and 40 sold at 3S.<. to 39.«. Gd. for ordinary dullish, 

 and 43ic. for medium dullish. 



SAi;sAl'Al!ILLA. 



The dealings in sarsaparilla during November may be 

 thus stated. In the middle of the month fair Lima Jamaica 

 was sold at steady rates, fair selling at XOd. per lb. Crey 

 Jamaica was .scarce, one bale offered being bought in at 

 Is. 4'/. Two bales of mixed, red and pale, native Jamaica, 

 realized 1 b^. i)er Iti., and a bale of pale yellow JSii/. ; while 

 for good brands of Honduras, l.«. \d. to \x. id. was paid. 

 At the last sale of the month 4.") bales of grey Jamaica were 

 offered and sold at l.s-. to Is. \d. for fair rolled fibrous, and 

 10(?. to \\U1. for coarse and partly country damaged, sea- 

 damaged fetching 9(/, Eight bales of native Jamaica were 

 offered and bought in. 



KOLA. 



Of kola nuts four bags of good, red West Indian were 

 sold at the mid-month's sale at i\d., and for three packages. 

 of good small to me.lium, Ad. to 4 ^'7. was paid, mouldy 

 fetching 3(/. to 31'/. 



AUKOWKOOT. 



At the .sale on the 12th., 100 barrels good manufactured 

 St. "N'inceiit arrowroot were disposed of at 2^''/., while fine 

 .St Alncent was bought in at 3(/. to i\d., and good at 2^*/. 

 P.ermuila was al.so bought in at 1.?. 6(/. per K). A week 

 later 200 barrels of St. Vincent were offered at 1 Ji/. to 2(/. 

 l>er lb. Nothing further in this article is reported up to the 

 end of November. 



MACK, XUTMEi;s ANI> PIMENTO. 



At the .spice .sales on the 17th., West Indian mace was 

 realizing somewhat lower prices, pale .selling at ix. id. ; fair, 

 2.V. \d. to 2.<. 3(/. : onlinary, l.<. 11</. to 2.<. ; and broken. 

 In-. \0d. to l.<. 11'/. Fair to good Java at this sale was 

 bought in at 2s. .5</. to 2s. 7d. 



West Indian nutmegs were selling at rather cheaper 

 rates but with a steady demand, 243 [lackages being 

 disposed of. At the last sale of the montli three barrels of 

 West Inilian nufinegs, 112's dark, fetched lb/., no Penang 

 or Singai)ore being offered. 



Pimento was at this sale bought in at 4]'/. to 4^(/. 



OASSIA FISTULA, ANNATTO ANI> TA.M AKINOS. 



The other items of interest at the end of the month are 

 the following : — C"ss/(r Fistidn : nine ba.skets of very lean 

 kind sold at 30s. per ewt. Annatto seed : of this article ro 

 other kind but fair Madras has been quoted and this sold 

 readih- at from 3j'/. to 4f/. jier lb. Good Barbados 

 tamarinds were dispo.sed of at prices varying from 14s. 3'/. to 

 14s 6'/ jier cwt. 



To sum up, the general tone that has prevailed 

 throughout the month in the drug and spice markets may 

 be descrilied as inactive. The interest e.\cited in October on 

 the suliject of ilr. Chamberlain's fiscal policj* has as yet by 

 no means subsided. 



POULTRY. 



Sulphuric Acid for Chicken Cholera. 



The following inforinatioii relating to ehieken 

 cholera which originally appeared in L'Uninn Phur- 

 inar<'vt'(quc, is taken from the Plm nndccot'icul 

 .Tiiariittl of November 28, ]!)():} : — 



Some i)oultry keeiters are aware that the occasional 

 adilition of a little sulphuric acid to the drinking water 

 snpidied to their fowls has a beneficial and tonic effect, 

 although the fact does not appear to be generally known. 

 A recent outlireak of chicken cholera in P.ulgaria has enaljled 

 P. Ritschetf to demonstrate that it is a valuable remedy in 

 that fatal disease, at the .same time rendering immune the 

 healthy fowls exposed to infection. The dose given is three 

 ])arts of sulphuric acid in 1,000 of water. It is stated that 

 this acid water should not be given for more than three days 

 at a time, since it is said to cause the laying of ' .soft eggs,' 

 and to give ri.se to diarrhoea. 



The editor of the Fhuiniuicruficul JourDid com- 

 menting on the above suggests the use of a solution of 

 ferrous sulphate instead of sul])huric acid. One drachm 

 to 40 fluid ounces has been found beRoficial. When 

 either this or the acid is used, the drinking vessel 

 employed should be of earthenware and not of 

 ' cjalvanized' iron. 



