Vol. VII. No. 167. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



303 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices on the London Market. 



Mr. J. R. .Tackson, A.L.S., has t'orvvarded the follow- 

 ing report on the London drug and spice market during 

 the month of Julv : — 



As usual at this season of the year, fhe drug aud spice 

 markets during the month of July have been very quiet. 

 Though the holiday season begins to take etiect in July, it is 

 iiot fill August that it is in full swing, but the fine, hot 

 weather of the former month had a decided influt'uce in caus- 

 ing trade generally to become inactive, and though there has 

 been at most of tiie auctions throughout . the month, good 

 .supplier of l;)oth new and old goods, the general rlemand has 

 been slow, and in consequence, prices for the principal articles 

 associated with West Indian trade, show very little alteration 

 from those of June. 



(ilNOKK. 



At the first spice auction which took'place on the 1st of 

 the month, (i2-"? packages of Jamaica were offered, -i barrels of 

 ordinary dark, slightly mouldy, finding purchasers at 51.s-. 

 per 100 It)., all ot the remainder being bought in. Seven hun- 

 ilred and twenty-three packages of t'ochin' and (.Calicut were 

 also offered, 34.". per ewt. being paid for UO hags of fair, 

 plump, washed, slightly worn:y, Cochin. A week later the 

 offerings of Jamaic-a amounted to 203 packages, but no bitl 

 was made either for this kind or for Cochin or Calicut. On 

 the 15th, only 47 barrels of Jamaica were offered, and 8 sold at 

 ■59.S. for good ordinary, and 51.--. for ordinary small. All the 

 offerings of Cochin, which amounted to about 500 bags, were 

 bought in at 35.*. to 36.?. for washed rough. One hundred 

 ■ca.ses of good, brown, rough Calicut were also bought in at 

 45.S. per cwt. On the iind, some 124 i)ackages of Jamaica 

 and 39 packages of Cochin and Callicut. were brought forward, 

 for none of which was there any demand, and all were 

 withdrawn. At the last auction on the 29th, the market 

 stood thus: out of 120 packages of .Jamaica offered, only 

 a few were sold at from 53.s. to 54.<. for good eomnmii. 

 Of Cochin and Calicut, nearly 600 packages were offered, 

 and nearly all bought in at the following rates : bold, 

 selected cut, 90.s'.; unsorted native cut, 55.<. to 57.s-. 6rf.; 

 line, bold, round, wa.shed, Cochin, 'lO.s., and washed rough, 

 34.S'. to 36.S. One hundred and ten bags of fair, limed Japan 

 Tvere also brought forward at this sale, and withdrawn at .30.v. 

 per cwt. 



NUT.MKHS, MACK. ANO I'l.ME.NTO. 



At the spice sale on the 8th, 213 packages of West 

 Indian were offered ;ind sold at 1<. lif. for 55'.s. : l.<. for 62'.«. 

 to 63'.<., and the smaller sizes at somewhat easier rates. Some 

 boxes and cases fiom Singajiore and Ceylon were disposed 

 •of at lower rates. On the 15th, 500 packages of West 

 Indiiui were offered and all sold, the large sizes at tirni price.s, 

 and the smaller at easier rates. At the last auction on the 2itth, 

 the offerings, amounting to 120 packages of West. Indian, were 

 ;dl sold at similar rates. At the auction on the Sth, all the 

 •offerings of West Indian mace, amounting to 33 packages 

 were sold at the fullowing prices: \x.^d. to l.s. 8r/. for 

 good tip tine pale ; bs. 3'/. to l.«. hd. for fair, and Ls. b/. 

 to Is. 2'/. for ordinary. A week later, 105 packages were 

 brought forward, and all disposed of, at steady rates, 

 ^ood pale, partly picked, fetching bs. 5r/. to l.s. 6r/.; fair, 

 l.s. 3rf. to !.<. 4d., and broken ordinary to good. Id. 

 to \>i. \d. X'er ft>. At the last auction on the 29th, 

 -the quotations for 4 packages West Indian were : fm- 



fair reddish, Is. to \s. 'Id., and broken, \Q\d. Some 

 bold reddi.sh Penang fetched l.s. lOrf. at this sale. Of 

 Pimento, 150 bags were offered at the spice sale on the 8tli,_ 

 and all bought in at '2\d. per lb. for fair. On the 22nd, 

 130 bags were sold out of a tfJtal of 280 offered, Ij^d. being 

 paid for mixed blacks, and id. for barely fair. A rather 

 firmer tone prevailed at the last sale of the month. Imt. most 

 of the offerings were bought in. 



ARROWROOT. 



Very little busine.ss has been done in this article, but 



it was reported that a large cro]3 had been planted in the 



West Indies for the coming year, and that future suinilies 

 would be al:)undant. 



SAKSAPAK1LL.\. 



At the first drug sale on the 2nd, 31 packages of grey 

 .lamaica were offered and sold at the following rates : for 

 good, 2.«. ; fair, l.<. lli/.: rather coarse and [lart dark, \x. dd. 

 to Ls. 10(/., and common coar.se, l.s. Til. Lima-Jamaica, of 

 which 18 bales were offereil and sold, fetched L<. id. to L«. 5d. 

 for ordinary part chumiiy, while 23 bales of native Jamaica 

 sold at the following rates : dull grey and yellow mixed, I.f., 

 and fair red, Li. L7. per lb. For some 3 bales of Honduras, 

 Ls. Id. per R). was paid, the quality being of iloubtfnl 

 character. A week later, sarsilpaiilla was still in fair demand 

 at the following rates : native red Jamaica, 2.s. 2d.; lima, 

 l.s. 7d., and n:^tive red, Lv. 2'/.'to Ls. 3d. At the close of the 

 month, the following were the'prices realized for the several 

 kinds : fair grey, from Is. 9d. to Ls-. 10'/.; native Jamaica was 

 sold at from lid. to Ls. for didl to fair red, and 7d. for sea- 

 damaged. At these rates, 1 1 bales were sold, and another 

 4 bales were disposed of at 1 L/. for good red, slightly sea- 

 <lamaged, and \x. for yellow a.nd i-ed mixed. 



KOLA, LI.ME .lUICE, ETC. 



At the beginning of the month, a package of small to 

 bold dried West Indian kolas fetched Ijrf. per lb., and at the 

 close of the month, 36 packages were offered and several sales 

 made at 2hd. for good, dried, West Indian, inferior (jualitie>i 

 realizing from 1]'/. to I'^d. jjer R. On the 8th of the month, 

 lime juice was in good demand, fail- pale realizing from 

 Ls. 3t/. to Ls. M. per lb., and inferior (]Ualitie.s, from Is. 2d. 

 to Ls. 3d. per lb. Of distilled oil of limes, some purchases 

 have been made at from 2.<. (!'/. to 2.s. 7d pei- lb. 



BRITISH GUIANA RICE CROP. 



While planters at Barbados and other West Indian 

 Islands are anxiously looking for rain, the rice farmers 

 of British Guiana arc e<jiially desirous of a lengthy 

 period of dry weather in order that their crops may be 

 suceessfuily ripened. In their fortnight!}' report (jn 

 the rice crop of the colony, dated September 4, Messrs. 

 Sandbach, Parker & Co., of Georgetown write : — 



The weather during the past fortnight has continued 

 suitable for the growing rice crop, but farmers are anxiously 

 looking forward to a spell of dry weather during the next 

 two or three month.s, since if rain occurs during the i-eajjing 

 season the crop will be .seriously damaged. 



A few lots of cleaned rice have come to town during the 

 past fortnight, and thi.s, combined with the fact that the new 

 crop will soon be ripe, has tended to have a lowering effect 

 upon prices, and sales have been made at from $5 40 to •■f5'50 

 per bag of 180 lb., ex store. 



About 700 bags of rice were .shipped tn the West Indian 

 Lslands during the fortnight ending August 21 last, but none 

 during the fortnight ending September 4. 



