"Vol. III. No. -55. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



173 



WEST. INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices in the London Market. 

 The following notes on the Jiug anil spice sales in 

 the London Market during the month of March last 

 have been contributed by Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S.: — 



In tlie drug and spice uiarkets little or notliing lia.s 

 cccurred during the month to call for any special observation 

 with regard to the chief West Indian products. Interest 

 continues to be centred in camjihor, menthol, and other 

 productions of Japan. A few West Indian iiroducts, 

 liowever, such as kola and arrowroot, may be mentioned in 

 egard to the price asked for the first, and with reference to 

 'the (piality of the second. 



KOLA. 



Thus, at the first drug auction on March .3, 14 packages 

 of kola were otferetl, though none found buyers, the [irices 

 disked lieing 3.V'/. per lb. for African, and 7d. for fair bright 

 washed West Indian. No other offerings of West Indian 

 ivere made during the month, but on the 30th. there was a 

 demand for the cheaper qualities of West African at from 

 4\d. to i'l'l., which were almost unobtainable. 



ARROWROOT. 



With regard to arrowroot, 94 barrels of good manufac- 

 turing St. Vincent were dis[iosod of at the sale on March 3, 

 iit 1^(/. per lb., whidi price was maintained throughout the 

 month. On the question of the quality of arrowroot, the 

 following paragra}ih recently appeared in the Chemist and 

 Dni</i/ist: — 'We understanil that the public analysts are 

 about to pay attention to arrowroot, and we should not be 

 surprised to hear that some [irosecutions are to take place 

 shortly.' It is reported that some of the imi)orters of 

 arrowroot have decided in future to sell the article 

 ■•guaranteed genuine as imported' which 'guarantee' is 

 not likely to avail the retailer much. That such a step 

 should have been taken by the importers is evidence that 

 developments may be expected. Chemists may also take the 

 liint, so that when the ambitious inspector walks in they will 

 be able to charge him 3x. Gd. or 4s. per lb. for ' the only 

 genuine ' Bermuda arrowroot. 



OINGER. 



At the first spice sale on the 2nd. of the month, the 

 market was very quiet, 18 packages of ordinary dark 

 Jamaica selling at 37.s. ; washed rough Cochin was bought in 

 at 27s. Orf. to 30s., and 2.5- bags of Japanese were disposed 

 •of, without reserve, at 23s. A week later about 300 

 packages of Jamaica were offered, of whicli 14 liarrels were 

 iiold at the following jirices : — Good washed, part wormy, 

 44s., and dark 33s. One case of bold selected Cochin 

 realized 70s., wdiile 3-50 bags of hard brown rough sold at 

 .28.S., fair washed rough 25s. to 2.5s. dd., good 2Gs. to 

 tils. Gd., and rough and wormy brown Calicut 22s., cut tips 

 -34s., and ends 27s. 6(/. On ^larch 23, the quotations were 

 as follows : — iliddling dullish Jamaica 41s., common dark to 

 ■ordinary 33s. to 35s., common ratoon 31s. 6(7. and wormy 

 28s. Gd. In comparison with these prices fine bold rough 

 'Calicut sold at 40.<., and cuttings at 21s., bold washed being 

 bought in at 36s. : 350 packages of .Jamaica were offered 

 -and 50 sold, and of 362 packages of Cochin offered, about 

 40 found purchasers. These prices were generally main- 

 tained at the close of the month. 



SARSAPAEILLA. 



At the first drug sale on March 3, 65 packages of .sarsapa- 

 xilla were offered, comprising the following descriptions and 



nundiers of jiackages : — Grey Jamaica, 10 packages, all of 

 which were sold; Lima .Jamaica, 28 packages, none sold ; native 

 Jamaica, 19 packages, 2 sold ; Honduras, 8 packages, none 

 sold. The following were the prices realized : — Grey Jamaica, 

 firm at Is. Id. per E). ; slightly sea-damaged, Is., : badly sea- 

 damaged, 7d. to dd. Lima .Jamaica was held at from 10(/. to 

 11(7., .sales being afterwards effected at \ld. The native 

 Jiimaica sold at lOd., and the Honduras was held at Is. Grey 

 .Jamaica was again offered a fortnight later, fair sound lieing 

 held at Is. Id., and a few liales of slightly coarse disposed of 

 at Is. At this .same sale 21 bales of fair Guayaciuil sold at 

 10(7. to lOk?., and 1 bale of Mexican at ihd. taken with all 

 faults. 



SUT.MEOS, M.\CE, LIME JUICE, ETC. 



The following may be mentioned amongst other less 

 important products : — Nutmegs and mace have maintained 

 a steady sale throughout the month, ordinary to fair West 

 Indian .selling at from Is. 9'/. to Is. 11(7. per lb., and iiicking.s 

 from Is. 6(7. to Is. 7(7. Raw West Indian lime juice was 

 quoted at the end of the month at Ls. 1(7. to Is. id. per 

 gallon, and AVest Indian distilled lime oil at Is. 6(7. per ff). 

 Twenty-four packages of Cassiti fistula were offered at the 

 first sale in the month, 5 of wliich were sold at 30s. for fair 

 lean West Indian pod. Annatto seed from Ceylon and 

 Madras were offered on JIarch 3 to the extent of 84 packages, 

 19 of whicli were sold at from 3\d. to 3ld. per lb. 



Silk-cotton for Canada. 



Mr. J. Russell JMurra}' has written as follows to the 

 Imperial Conunissioner of Agriculture, under date 

 Montreal, April 21, 1904, regarding a possible trade 

 in silk-cotton : — ■ 



Can you tell me if there is any possibility of obtaining 

 silk-cotton ] This is about tlie time of the year it can be 

 obtained. Have you any idea as to what value it could be 

 gathered for ? Tlie;e is a possible outlet for it here, if it can 

 be gathered in sufficient quantities, and if we can get it at 

 a reasonable price. 



A sinular product, called ' Kapoc,' is on the market here, 

 offered from New York, at 12ic. per lb., f.o.b. cars New 

 York. It is brought here from Ceylon and Java. I send 

 you a sample. 



While we have pleasure in publishing Mr. Russell 

 Murray's letter, it is advisable to repeat what we 

 stated in the A</ricultural jVev:s (Vol. II, p. 151) on 

 this subject : ' As inr as we are aware no one has 

 devoted serious attention to this subject. Perhaps one 

 great difficulty is to get at the pods which hang at the 

 ends of slender branches of a lofty tree, 40 to 70 feet 

 from the ground. These pods must be gathered just 

 before they begin to burst. But how ? The next 

 difficulty is to find, anywhere in the West Indies, 

 a sufficient number of silk-cotton trees growing near 

 one another to make it worth while to start a business 

 in collecting and exporting the cotton. The seeds 

 must be separated as in the case of ordinary cotton, 

 and the clean lint packed in bales.' 



Ra,infall at Dominica. According to the official 



returns recently published, the mean rainfall at Dominica 

 during 1903 was 123-77 inches. The heaviest fall (251-56 

 inches) was at Middleham ; the driest station was Wall 

 House with 79-31 inches. During the month of December 

 no fewer than 41-31 inches fell at Middleham. 



