19C» 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



Junk i, 1904. 



Jamaica ginger sold 

 washed, i'2s. to 50s. : 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drags and Spices in the London Market. 



The followinfj is ^Ir. J. R. Jackson's report on the 

 London Drug and Spice Market for tlie month of 

 April: — 



Though the Dudget resolutions have not directly 

 affected tlie articles of trade vitli Mliich ve are more 

 esjieeially concerned in these notes, commerce in general, as 

 is usual on these occasions, has indirectly heen more or less 

 di-turl led. 



The drug and spice markets during tlie month ha\c 

 }-bciwn liut little acti^■ity, and even in cam[ihor and mentliol 

 and f>tlier Japanese products the same tone lias prevailed. 

 Besides this, the fact of there being no s[iice or drug .sales 

 during Easter week has had the ctlect of diminishing the 

 l>ulk of [iroducts which ordinarily cliange hands during the 

 jieriod of our monthly review. Incidentally we nia.y mention 

 that colonial products continue to occupy a consicleraUe 

 amount of attention in the public press, e.specially with 

 legard to cotton : the possibilities of the West Indies and 

 West Africa being able to supply, in the near futuie, 

 a large portion of 'Empire-grown cotton' is viewed witli 

 confidence and .satisfaction. 



The following are the principal articles coming under 

 the head of drugs and s(iices that have occupied attention in 

 the market during April : — 



(USCER. 



At the spice auction on the 13th 

 at the following rates: — Fair to good 

 medium dull to middling washed, 3.").<. Gi!. to 41.'., and 

 common to ordinary, 3"2.«f. to 34,«. 6(/. About .31.5 ban-els 

 were dispf)scd of. Cochin was in very little demand, and 

 Japanese limed .sold witliout reserve at l'l'.x. A week later, 

 prices had advanced from l.<. to 2.«. on the better qualities, 

 and declined 1.?. on the ordinary kinds, the cpiotations being, 

 50s. to 53s. for bold Jamaica ; fair to good washed, 43s. to 

 48s. 6(?. ; ordinary dullish to medium, 36s. to 4'2s. 6(7.; and 

 common to ordinary, 31s. to 3.5s. As many as 450 packages 

 were disposed of. Medium and bold cut were bought in at 

 50s., and unsorted native cut at 40s. At this sale, 650 packages 

 of Cochin were offered, all of which were bought in. At the 

 last sate on the L'7th., 210 barrels of Jamaica .sold at 

 an advance of Is. for good qualities, while full prices were 

 securefl for conmion. There was a slow demand for Cochin, 

 good bright washed fetching -'6s. 



SARSAP.VRILLA. 



The markets in this article have been steady throughout 

 the month. At the first drug auction, fair genuine grey 

 Jamaica was disjiosed of at from Is. to Is. lil., and coarse 

 was held at 10<^ per K>. Native red Jamaica was offered in 

 quantity and partly sold at !Si(?. U> lOd. for fair to good 

 red, and fnf. to Id. for common and i>artly sea-damaged : 

 common (iuatemala was quoted at ')il.. at «hich price it was 

 bought in. At the last sale of the month, tlie follow ing were 

 the quotations : — 28 bales of fair grey Jamaica were .sold at 

 l.s. per lb., and part coarse at lOif. to lb/.: dull mi.\ed red 

 native fetched 9i(/., and sea-damaged 6'/. At this sale 8 

 serous of fair Honduras were disposed of at Is. per lb. 



AEEOWROOT. 



At the spice auction on the 13th., 350 barrels <>( 

 St. Vincent .sold at \'-}d. for good manufactuiiiig, and '2'^il, 

 for fine ; a week later the prices had slightly declined, while 

 at the last sale on the 27th , of 576 packages of St. Vincent 



offered, 6t< were suld of good bright quality in tins at 3J»f., 

 and good manufacturing in barrels at 1|(/. 



LIME Jl'ICK, AXXATTO SEED, Pl.MEXTO, ETC. 



Of other products, 17 casks of raw West Indian lime juice 

 were ofl'ered and sr>ld in the middle of the month at Is. 2(/. 

 per gallon: a week later the price had slightly increased, being 

 ijuoted at from Is. 2(/. to Is 3(/. in jjuncheon lots ; 4(/. e.xtra 

 being asked for refined. 



At the sime period, annatto seed of good dark red 

 (juality from Madras and Aden were sold at 3]r/., and fair 

 red at 21i/.: of the 64 packages offered, 37 were disposed of. 

 At the last sale in the month 33 packages were offered and 

 2.^ sold, dull .>[adras realizing 3i'/., while 8 bags of fair 

 blight Jamaica fetched '^ll. per Iti. 



Pimento has maintained a ijuiet position during the 

 month, ordinary selling at 3.',(/., and fair at 3^(/. 



At the sale on the 14th., over 400 barrels of Barbados 

 and Antigua tamarinds were offered, for which, however, 

 there was but a poor demand, 10 b.urels only meeting with 

 custfimers at 12s. 6(/. per cwt. in liond : an inferior ipiality 

 was offered at from 10s. to 1L«. 



C'tsi'ii Fistiih was offered on the 29th., 5 packages of 

 fair West Indian being sold at 29s. per cwt., and 15 other 

 packages of poorer quality were bought in. 



At the same auction 6 bags of kola nuts were .sold, 

 without reserve, at 4^/. per tti. They were described as 

 ' small dull dried, of African character.' A [lackage of fair 

 sriund \^"est Iiiilian was also disposed of at 6i/. per lb. 



RUBBER IN SAMOA. 



Tiie Ciiiisiilii c Report on Siimad for lUQ.'i 

 contains the following information regarding the 

 growth of rubber plants in that country: — 



Little attention has been given to the cultuie of rublier 

 in Samoa up to the iirescnt time. .■\ patch consisting of a 

 few hundred trees of Manihot (jla-.iovii on the island of 

 Savaii has grown very well, but has not yielded any satisfac- 

 tory return eitlier in quality or quantity. 



Some 400 or 500 trees of llcnn h)-<t!sllle,'.»h, grown on 

 I'l'olu at an elevation of 1,200 feet (now four years old), 

 although in a fine healthy condition, have not reached the 

 diameter nor the height to compare witli re|Ports from other 

 countries. Citstilhui elastica undoubtedly gives more favour- 

 able prospects; at four years old this variet}- shows almost 

 twice the diameter of the Ihvat, and an e.xperi mental 

 tapping yielded a rubber of fine (juality comparing favourably 

 with that obtained from the Ifevea hraxilieitsU. 



Seeds from several varieties of rubbcr-iiro<liiciiig creejiers 

 have been tried. Unfortunately the percentage germinating 

 in most cases has not exceeded 5 per cent. : one package of 

 seeds of the Fini.^ eh.tstiai, containing 5,000, did not give 

 a single plant. 



Possibly better results may be looked for on the 

 eastern and .southern slopes, and a few other localities on 

 Ul>olu, where there is a greater rainfall and the distributirai 

 of rain is more equal during the year. 



Sweet Cup. Mr. A. J. Jordan. Cuiator of the 

 liotanic Station at Montserrat, writes: 'With reference to 

 the (|uery in the A:/ririi/tinrt/ Xcwf. (Vol. Ill, ji. 146) as to 

 the progress made by plants of P'lsaijfoni n/iih's at the 

 I'.otaiiic Stations in the West Indies, it may be of interest to 

 your readers to know that two plants of this species are now 

 flowering and fruiting at the out-station at Montserrat, 

 where the plants have made good growth. 



