Vol. I. No. 15. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



way coniicctod with develuiiiiig tliu pi'oducc of the soil in one 

 of the miuierou.s Colonies of tlio British Em] tire. To the 

 uninitiated a i>eiusal of the I'lihlic Leihjer or of the Rei)orts 

 of the LoMchi'.i Produce Market is, to say the least, 

 uninteresting reading ; but witli the light gained from a few 

 visits to the centre of Great liritain's colonial and foreign 

 trade, such rei"irts become intelligilile and even interesting. 

 P.y watching these re|iorts week by week a great amount of 

 information is leathered as to tlie sujijily and demand, the 

 fluctuations in jiriccs, and the conditions in which the various 

 l)rf)ducts arrive. There are also occasional notes of new or 

 rarely seen products. 



It has been thought that a monthly review of 

 the London clearing market, with si)ccial reference to 

 .such products as commend themselves to West Indian 

 readers would be an acceptable item in the Agra-iiltnrnl 

 A'eies. At the first sale in Septendser, 114 boxes of 

 C'uracoa aloes were partly disiiosed of at 19.s-. to 19.<. Cn/. per 

 cwt., 'dull black" not realizing more than 14.«., but four boxes 

 of 'fair livery' Curaqoa sold, without reserve, at 21s. per cwt., 

 while for seven small tins of 'tine livery' from Barbados 

 29s. was paid. A limited i|uantity of 'good bright,' but 'soft,' 

 Soootrine fetched 72s. Qd. per cwt. Arrowroot, as might be 

 expected, was a fluctuating article in consequence of the 

 disturbed state of St. Vincent at the beginning of the month : 

 this quality for ordinary manufacturing was l)ought in at 

 2|f/. jier ib, and Trinidad at 2'/. for soft (piality, while a 

 week later, owing to the renewed volcanic eruption, the ])rice 

 for St. Vincent rise and l)usine.ss was done at '^ll. to Ail. 

 per It), for ' fair to tine' quality. 



Of kola nuts at the first sale 6 barrels fresh Orenaila 

 sold at Ih'l. per lb. 'Fair, washed' West Indian realizing 

 3j(/., and at the second sale 21 barrels of West Indian were 

 disposed of at -■?!'/. to 3J(/. for good quality, and \\'l. for 

 'wormy.' 



At the s.ile on September 4, 24 bales of .lainaica sarsa- 

 parilla were dispo.sed of at l.s- SJ. ]ier It), for 'sound' and 

 is. to !.<. 2<l. for inferior quality ; and at the second sale, a 

 fortnight later, 1.5 bales were sold at Is. 2t/., and 13 other 

 hales at Is. ■^</. for '.sound,' and ].•-■. 1(/. for 'country' damaged, 

 while one bale of ' red Jauiaicj,' fetched 9(/. per It). 



At the same sale, tamarinds fetched the following prices 

 resjjectively : Three barrels of West Indian of inferior 

 quality 10s. per cwt.; of 27 barrels of Antigua ottered, 10 

 barrels sold at 13s. jier cwt, while later in the month 10 

 barrels of good West Indian were bought in at 1 4s. i>er cwt. 

 and 9 other barrels were sold at 13s. G(/. 



With 



ti> .sjiices, the following items may 



of interest. On September 4, pimento was quoted at 2|(V. 

 p.'r lb. for 'greyish,' and 2-^/. for 'fair.' On the 11th. 473 

 packages were ofiered, 1 20 of which were sold at the follow- 

 ing rates: — 'middling to fair' 2 ^(/. to 2|</. On the 25th. 

 438 packages were bought in at 2'^il. to 2j,f/. Of mace on 

 September 11,8 packages West Indian were offered for sale 

 of 'fair pale' and 'reddish,' realizing Is -id. and Is 'xl. per lb. 

 respectively, while i>n the 25th. there were 77 packages 

 offered, which realized for 'good pale' Is. 7(/., 'fair jiale' Is. id. 

 to Is. i)d., and 'fair red' l.s-. 3(/. On September 18, .lamaica 

 ginger .sold at 38s. to 40s. (jd. per cwt. for 'ordinary middling 

 dull', and on the 25th. the quotations were 37s. 6i/. to 38s. 

 for 'small dull,' but ' noddling dull washed' was bought in 

 at 44s. Gd. to 4Gs. In comparison with this, at the same sale 

 Cochin ginger sold at the following prices : — 82s. to 82s. Gd. 

 for ' bold cut,' 65s. for ' medium,' 55s. for ' small,' 37s. for 

 'ends' and 35s. for 'cuttings.' 



COTTON CULTIVATION IN BRITISH 

 GUIANA. 



The Denierara Dniltj ('hnn) ii-lr ro])ro(lncc(l in 

 a recent issue some extracts froiii a |j!V|)er by the late 

 Dr. Shier, a former Government Chemist of that 

 colony, on the subject of cotton cultivation in British 

 Guiana. ] )r. Shior's notes, although written more than 

 half a century ago, sliould be of interest to proprietors 

 in the West Indies who .are now turning their attention 

 to cotton growing. We append the following: — 



THE colony's SUITAUILrrV FOU COTTOX CEOWINli. 



British Guiana affords numerous advantages over 

 almost any other country in the cultivation of cotton. 



The marine atmosphere and saline nature of the coast 

 and estuary soils appear to fulfil exactly the conditions 

 required by the most valuable variety, namely, the sea-island 

 or black-.seed cotton. The .stiay bushes that are left, 

 although degenerated an<l jierennial, are obviously referable 

 to this variety. The land ada]>ted to the sea-island variety 

 in the Southern States of America is fast wearing out, and 

 the richer lands of the interior and west are suited only to 

 the short staple variety, hence, at no distant period, the more 

 valuable sea-island variety will have dwindled down to an 

 inconsiderable amount, and unless supjilied [ilentifull}' from 

 .some other (juarter, must bring an enhanced price. 



The low lands of the coast side of British Guiana appear 

 to me much richer and more enduring for cotton cultivation 

 than any I have elsewhere seen. The exhaustion I have 

 mentioned as taking place on the sea-board of the Southern 

 States of America arises from the constant stirring and 

 tillage of the thin layer of organic matter which was 

 originally found on the surface over the siliceous .sand. The 

 coast lands of British Guiana, however, contain a large 

 amount of organic matter intimately mixed and blended 

 with the clay and that to almost any dejith, so that with 

 anything apiiroaching to judicious tillage, exhaustion is not 

 at all to ba api>rehended. And if it were even to apjiear that 

 smaller returns occurred from this cau.se, a speedy and 

 effectual renovation is at all times ])0ssible by the method of 

 warping which would be attended with no expense worth 

 mentioning. 



A SUPEKIOn CLIMATE. 



In point of climate I consider the coast side .soils of 

 British Guiana decidedly superior to the American sea-board. 

 In the latter there is a decided and well-marked winter, 

 which renders freipient sowing necessary in spring, and 

 which at times oi)erates unfavourably in autumn. The 

 plants have thus but a single period of blossoming, and 

 should the weather prove unfavourable there is no chance 

 of retrieving the loss during the season. The cotton ] plant 

 is thus rendered an annual by the severity of the winter. 

 In British Guiana, on the other hand, there is abundant 

 opportunity of planting without fear of failure by a reduced 

 temperature, and in consecjuence of the finene.ss and 

 uniformity of the seasons the plant l)ecomes, or rather is 

 allowed to remain, a jierennial. 



CULTIVATION MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IN THE STATES. 



It will be objected by others that the stiffness of the 

 soils in British Guiana is such that the labour of cultivating 

 cotton will be greater and more exiiensive than in the loose 

 soils of the sea-board of the Southern States of America. 

 Thismu.stbe admitted, but on the other hand, the superiority 

 of the soil and clinrate, suited also to the finest varieties of 

 cotton, cannot fail to give a return so nurch greater as more 

 than counterbalances the greater expense of labour. 



