Vol. VI r. Xo. 164. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



255 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices on the London Market. 

 Mr. J. R. Jarkson, A.L.S., ha.s forwardrd the 

 following report on the London drdg and spice market 

 during the month of June : — 



The coiiilitioii of the spice and «'Irug iniirkets iluiiiig the 

 uioiith of June ha.s changed but very .slightly, if at all, .since 

 our report for May. Any improvement at this season was 

 scarcely to be e.xiiected, inasmuch as with the close of the 

 half-year and tlie approach of the hmg sunnner holidays, 

 buyers are not anxious to go beyondj their inin:ediate wants. 

 Xo one article has attracted any special attention dui-iiig the 

 month, exce|)t perhaps, grey .lauraica sarsaparilla, the scarcity 

 of which continues. It may be mentioned too, that the price 

 of dragons- blood has increased to almost double the figure 

 reached a year or two ago. As might be expected in the 

 summer season when there is an increase in the consuni|itiou 

 of cooling drink.s, citric and tartaric acids, and lemon and lime 

 juices were in demand. The following are the details of the 

 articles chiefly attccting the W'e.st Indies: - 



iaN(;EH. 



The month began well with tius article. At the hist 

 spice auction as many as 1,000 packages Jamaica were offered 

 and some -l-OO packages changed hand.s, either at the sale or 

 afterwards, at the following prices : ^Qx. to 98.«. for fine, 7.:'.s. to 

 83.S. for fair to good, OS.s. fid. to 73.s-. for low middling to midd- 

 ling, fiO.s. to 66.S-. for connnon to good ci.mmon, and iiG-i. to -oS.*. 

 for small mixed ratoon. A foi-'fnight later about 900 

 ])ackages were offered and about l-oO sold at steady lates, 

 good fetching 80.s. per ewt. At this sale some -'lOO packages 

 of Cochin and Calicut were offered and bought in. On the 

 •2-tth, Jamaica was represented by about 700 packages, nf 

 which only 70 were disposed of at .slightly easier rates, fair 

 bright realizing 75.«., and ordinary to good ordinary from 

 58s. to 6-1.'!. per cwt. There was aiso a good snp|)ly of Cochin 

 and Calicut, all of which was liought in at from yO.s. to 95.>!. 

 for good bold selected, and 'M.". for small washed rough 

 Cochin : some -30 packages of fair limiMl .Japan were bought 

 in at 29.<. per cwt. 



XUTMBiS, MACK ANIl I'IMENTO. 



,\t the hrst .sale on June •'!, West Indian nutmegs 

 were in good su])[ily ; about 400 packages were .sohl, the 

 small and medium sizes realizing |f/. and hd. per lb. lower, 

 and the larger sizes if/, to Irf. per lb. advance on previous 

 I'ates. .\t the last auction on the 24th, 165 packages West 

 Indian were offered, and the liulk .sold at steady rates. !Mace 

 has vuaintained a steady ])0sition diu'ing the month, the 

 quotations l)eing from l.<. ]d. to U'. 3d. for ca-dinary to fair, 

 l.<. 4rf. foi- pale, and '.hi. to 11'?. for broken. Pimento at the 

 first auction realized, for 80 bags of . fair, from 2J.(/. to 2{'/. 

 per lb. A fortnight later some 360 bags of similar rpiality 

 were offered and bought in at 2{'/. [ler Itj. 



AHi;ow iiooT. 

 This iivticle has occupied very little attention during the 

 month. On the 17th, 535 bags of good manufacturing 

 8t. Vincent were all bought in at 2Jr?. to 3]f/. ])er lb., an 1 

 on the 24th. ^-^S barrels of fair manufacturing were birught 

 in at '2l.d. per lb. 



S.VRSAI'AKil.l. \. 



At the first drug auction on the 4lh no grey Jamaica 

 was forthcoming. Five bales . of native .Jamaica fetched 



Ls. 1'/. to l.<. 2d. per ft), for fair red, 24 bales of Lima- 

 .lamaica, ordinary rough, part dark to fair rolls, sold at from 

 Is. 3'/. to Is. 6d., and 9 bales of Lima-Jamaica and Guaya- 

 (juil characters mixed realized Is. id- to l.v 6rf. per lb. On 

 the 1 8th, 33 bales of grey Jamaica were offered, all of which 

 were disposed of; 11 bales of good, part .slightly dark, 

 fetched 2s. per lb. A finther 21 bales, slightly rough, also 

 sold for 2s. For fair slightly coarse Is 10c7., very coarse 

 and part dark Is. 9<7., and mixed Is. M. Nineteen bales of 

 native Jamaica were also offered and sold at the following 

 prices ; fair to good red Is. Id. to l.<. 2'/., dull red and yellow 

 mixed Ls,, and common mixed 11'/. [ler lb. 



KOLA, CVSSIA FISTULA, LIME .Tl'IOE, TAMAEINDS, ETC. 



At the Ijeginning of the month 50 packages of fair 

 dark "West Indian kolas were offered and all bought in at 2(/. 

 per R). On thj 17th, 1 bag was ottered and .sold at IhL 

 \ier lb. for fair dried .lamaica. On the 4th of the n'.onth 

 11 bags of good long mostly fresh Cassia Fistula pods, from 

 Dominica, sold at I7s. per cw-t. A fortnight later a consign- 

 ment of 23 bags of good bold Domiiuca pods realized from 

 17s. to 18s. per cwt. On the 4th, some 24 hogsheads of 

 raw West Indian lime juice were ottered. 1 7 of which were 

 sold privately : Is. 3rf. per gallon was paid for 7 puncheon.s 

 of good pale. At the same auction a case of West Indian 

 distilled oil of lime found a buyer at 2s. 7d. per lb. West 

 Indian tamarinds were reported at the beginning of the 

 month to be arriving in fair ijuantities and realizing from 

 14.S-. 9</. to 15s. per cwt. Later in the month the jirices for 

 good West Indian had risen from 14.<. to 16.<., while East 

 Indian were reported to te scarce. 



LACE-BARK TREE OF JAMAICA. 



The hice-bark tree of Jamaica {Lagdta Iditraria) 

 foi-ms the subject of a, short article in the June number 

 of the Journal of the New York Botanic Gardens, 

 while the peculiar and interesting character of the 

 inner bark, to which the tree owes its name, is well 

 shown in the illustrations accompanying the article. 



The lace-bark tree, which belongs to the Thymelaeaccae, 

 is found in the central and western parts of Jamaica, and 

 is also said to occur in Hayti. In its native wilds it attains 

 a height of from 20 to 30 feet. Its ovate leaves are of 

 a shining light-green colour, and are very attractive in ajipear- 

 ance The" flowers are flesh}-, of a creamy white colour, and 

 are borne in long slender spike-like racemes. 



The tree has long been an object of interest on account 

 of the lace-like character of the inner bark, which is made 

 up of fibres arranged in several layers that may be stretched 

 apart into a loo.se fabric'.'"'^ In former tin.es people employed 

 this bark in making cap.s, rutts, bonnets, etc., and now, in 

 Jamaica, the fibre is used in the manufacture of various 

 fancy articles, such as doyleys, lamp-shades, fans, as well as 

 in maki'.g riding-whips. . It is stated too, that the Spaniards 

 formerly utilized the bark in the preparation of rope. 



Ill 1793 specimens of the lace-b:irk tree were first sent 

 to Kew^ Gardens from Jamaica. These died, however, and 

 it was not until 1844 that another attempt wa.< made in this 

 direction. Sevei-al young |)lants introduced in lliat year 

 rtoiirishcd, and one produced floweis and finit a few years 

 later. It is mentioned in the above-mentioned ./miniaf. 

 that a specimen of the tree has lately flowered for the first, 

 time at the New York Botanic Gardens. 



