Vol. SVill. Sa. 456. 



THE AGmCULXmLiL £7EWS, 



.335 



tliads, p-arpetiug and verandah awning.^- If a market 

 could be found for these, then we should have a second 

 industiy. I might mention here, that a gentleman has 

 written to our In-tractor to get him 1,000 mat's for 

 wrapping tobacco. 



The wire grass straw industry is another line that needs 

 to be encouraged. We already have persons qualified to be 

 teaithers. All we want is to find a market. That the 

 farent Society ought to be able to do. 



Next there is the broom industry. .\ large uinujnt of 

 ■Dioney leaves tlie island annually for brooms. We grow the 

 bioom corn used in the United States. What i* there to 

 prevent us making the brooms, and so getting some of the 

 money that goes abroad. All we need is encouragement. 

 The Government might be asked t" encourage these indus- 

 tries oy using some of the things we make, in their offices 

 and institutions. 



We have also the basket, industry. This loo c:x,n be 

 ta-iglit to our girls, aud a means of livelihood found, if we 

 •can get a steady market and Government encouragement. 

 ; We might have classes to give instruction to our girls 



in cooking, laundry, knitting, caire of iniants and sick per- 

 sons, first aid to the sick, plain sewing. These will help 

 them to fill their places in life as wives and mothers, and 

 also lit ihem for employment in homes 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Castilloa Rubber. — The conclusions of the Trini- 

 dad Board of Agriculture Rubber 'Committee regarding 

 ■Castilloa are as follows :— 



1. That the planting of Castilloa as a pure crop is not 

 ' profitable anywhere. 



2. That the further planting of Castilloa even as shade 

 for cacao is inadvi-able, except on or near estates where it 

 is already pruved that Castilloa can be grown without 

 injury to the Cacao crop, while returning some revenue 

 itself. 



3. That where Castilloa has already been established 

 and makes vigorous growth, it will p.iy to tap it. 



1. That the right method of tapping Castilloa has 

 nevrr been found, and probably never will be found ; but 

 that further experiment is desirable and that Merchiston 

 method should be watched with interest. 



5. That the most profitable method appears to be 

 tapping, two or three times a year, in dry weather, with the 

 cutlass, and collecting the rubber four days later in the form 

 of 'scrap ball.' 



6. That the cuts should be made ftboul one fo:»t apart, 

 on one side of the tree only, and madi obli<ju9ly ujiwards 

 in order to prevent rotting due to the entry ot rain. 



7. That where Castilloa is alleged to injure cacao, 

 ■such injury is frequently due to excessive shade, either of 

 Castilloa alone, or of Castilloa plus immortels. 



8. That, before, in such oa-ses, condemning the 

 Castilloa otf-hand it would be well to try tke effect on the 

 cacao of the reduction of shade. 



9. That the tapping of isol,ated Castilloa trees in 

 certain places might be profitably conducted oa similar 

 lines to the bleeding of balata (/ourna.' of the Jamaica 

 Acriaihiiriil Sociity, July 1919.) 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 

 Mr. P. Taylor, second eleiieaJ aasiataht on the 

 «tatT of the Iniperuil Departmerjt, returneil to Barba- 

 4I0S on October :), 1019, at the '.'oaclusioD of hi'i 

 military !jervice abroad. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON- 

 MARKET. 



Mr. J. R. .Tackson, A.L.S., has loiv.araea uue lol- 

 Jowing report on the London drug and spice markets 

 for the month of August; — 



August being the holiday month of the year, business 

 in the Mincing Lane drug and produce markets is expected 

 to be at a low ebb, and the present season has been no 

 exception to the rule, but, on the contrary, to have been 

 intensified, owing to the general labour unrest. Buyer.^ 

 are not only hampered by th<» general high prices, but also 

 by the uncertainty of the delivery of the goods, which 

 compeLs them to be satisfied by purchasing only froji 

 hand to mouth. The following are some of the chief detail.^ 

 afTectiug the products in question. 



Ginger began the month with a very slow demand. 

 Sound, washed rough Cochin was scarce, the supplies offered 

 being more or less wormy ; 790 bags of this quality were 

 ofiiered at auction on the 7th of the month, and 17 sold ati 

 •i?,>. Gr/. ; at the same auction, 6-16 bags of Sierre I/eqne 

 were brought forward, 40 of which were sold privately at 

 51.f. <ad. 



Pimento has been w full supply at ^\d. to h\il. 

 per lb. chiefly for exportation, the home demand being 

 very small. Sar.saparilla was in good supply and fair demand 

 at auction on the 28tb of the month, when the offerings 

 were as follows : Grey Jamaica 62 bales, 46 of which 

 were sold at from is. Zd. to '2s. Gd. per tt>. for mouldy, and 

 ■2s. 9d. to '2s. lOd. for part mouldy. Of the -55 bales of 

 T.ima-Jamaica, offered G only were sold at 25 6d. per ft>. ; 

 of the 63 bales of native Jamaica offered, 54 were disposed 

 of at Is. to Is. id. per lb. for red and yellow. 



At auction on the 30th of the month annatto 

 seed was represented by 27 packages, but no sales 

 were effected. Of 41 packages of Cassia Fistula 

 offered at the same auction, only 7 were sold, at aa 

 advance of 2s. 6d. per cwt. on previous rates ; 4 bags 

 of pods from Dominica were disposed of at 170.v. per 

 cwt. At the same auction on the 2Sth, 140 packages 

 of West Indian tamarinds were offered but no sales were 

 effected. Of 48 packages of East Indian also brought 

 forward, 10 were sold at sOs. per cwt. At auction 

 on the 28th of the month, kola was in good supply, 

 being represented by 178 packages, only 44 of which found 

 buyers ; 4 bags of fair Jamaica fetched 6.W. per to., 

 while for 16 bags of African, Id. was asked. 



Indo- Burma Aerial Mail Service. —The fol- 

 lowing note, taken from a recent issue of the Jounto,! of 

 the Royal Sockty «/ Arts, is interesting iu view of the 

 consideration that is being given to the question of 

 fi^ircraft communication in the West Indies ; ' The Gov- 

 ernment of Burma recently invited the Burma Chamber 

 of Commerce to express its views respecting the londitiona 

 under which an aerial mail service should be maintained 

 between Burma and India. The Chamber has replied that 

 in its opinion a service every other day between Burmi and 

 India would probably meet the present requirements, but 

 that in order to avoid delay a subsidiary aeroplane service 

 should be established Ix'tween Rangoon an-l Maymyo, or 

 auch other towns as the Government may considiir 

 fieces-sary 



