Vol. VII. No. 1G9. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



335 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices on the London Market. 



Mr. J. R. Jarksuii, A.L..S., has forwarded the 

 following report on the London (hiig and spice market 

 during the month ot' August : — ^ 



The report on spices and drugs for tlie niontli of August 

 is always more or less dull and uninteresting, as it is nut 

 only the chief month of the whole year for holiday making, 

 but the inclusion of the liank holiday imparts to it a general 

 absence of business in evei-y branch of commerce, afi'ecting 

 not only the one statutory day, but several day.s after. 



The following are the chief notes on West Indian 

 produce : — 



(:im;ki;. 



At the first spice sale on the 12th, a large (piantity of 

 Jamaica was offered but only comiiaratively small dealings 

 were effected at 60k. Cochin and Callicut were brought f'orwanl 

 in moderate quantities and bought in at S.").s. to cST.v. («/. for 

 bold cut selected, -tS.*. ftu- small and medium, and .'^fi.s. for 

 small washed Cochin. Fair limed .lapan realized 2><s. per 

 •cwt. At the last sale, a fortnight later, only a moderate 

 supply of all kinds was brought forwijrd and small sales 

 were effected at similar rates to those itlready quoted. 



NUTMEGS, M-iCK -AND HIMKNTO. 



I-'or nutmegs there has been little or no deujand with 

 no change from former price<. Mace at the first spice .sale 

 was represented by 53 packages of West Indian, which were 

 disposed of at the f(jlIowing rates : Fair to good pale, Is. 4./. 

 to l.s. 6(/. ; and fair pale and reddish, l.s. 2</. to I.s. .;</. 

 Good pickings fetched l.s-. Id., and broken 10(/. to Hi'/, 

 per It). A week later 13 barrels of West Indian were .sold at 

 similar rates, and 14 ca.ses of IVnang were bought in at 

 l.s. lO'i per ft). Of pimento, at the first sale on the r.ith, 

 203 bags were offered, only a part of which sold at 2d. 

 per lb. At the close of the month from 2d. to 2ld. was the 

 price realized for fair (juality. 



AHKOWHOOT. 



At the .spice auction on the 'Jfitli, 330 barrels of 

 St. Vincent were offered and only 22 sold, realizing 2'^d. per lb. 

 for good manufacturing. In connexion with the British 

 trade in arrowroot, some extracts have recently appeared in 

 the English pi^ess from an official report on the trade of 

 F>ermuda bir 1907, where attention is drawn to the high 

 price of the Fiermuda pnnlnct, in coujparison with that of 

 St. Vincent, the former fetching in the retail market 2.v. i'xf. 

 per ft)., against l.«. 9d. per ft), for St. Vincent. It is also 

 pointed ont that the exports to the United Kingdom during 

 the year quoteil were valued at oidy £470 against £1,194 

 in 1906. 



SAliSACAlUl.LA, 



At the drug auction on the 12th, 19 bales of native 

 .lamaica were offered, and 16 sold at the following ])rices : 

 1.?. to !.<:. !(/. for fair to good red ; ordinary yellow and pale 

 red mixed, 11(7. to l.s.; and common yellow mixed 10</ to 

 ]\hi. |)er ft). At the last sale on the 27th, grey .Jamaica^ 

 was offered to the extent of 27 bales, all of which were 

 disposed of at from 3(7. to 4(7. per ft), cheaper than previous 

 rates. Eleven bales fetched from !.«. Id. to Is. 9(7. per ft)., 

 while other ijualities brought Is. 6(7. per S). Thirteen bales 

 of native Jamaica were offered and fi sold. Is. 2d. being paid 

 for good tawny, l.<. for fair red, and 10c7. to Ili(/. for inferior 

 yellow mixed. 



(JASSIA FISTULA, KOLA,w TAMARIND.S, ETC. 



Of the first of these, 6 bag^ — all that were offered — of 

 fair Dominica pod, were disposed of at 18.<. per cwt. At the 

 auction on the 13th, 27 packages of kola were offered, one 

 of good small to bold dried Ceylon fetching 2ld. per fti. ; 

 the remainder, slightly mouldy, being bought in at Ih'l. 

 Some 120 barrels of Tamarinds were offered at the first 

 sale, only 30 of which were sold in bond without reserve 

 at from ll.s. 3(7. to ll.s. 6(7. per cwt. At the end of the 

 month there was a slight decline, some syrupy Barbados 

 being disposed of at 10.s-. 3<7. per cwt. At the last sale of the 

 month 3 ca.ses of good West Indian distilled oil of limes 

 weie bought in at 2.<. 6(7. per lb. 



AGRICULTURAL MEETING AT GRENADA. 



For some time past it has been the custom to hold 

 monthly meetings in different parts of Grenada under 

 the auspices of the Agricultural Society, at which the 

 Agricultural Superinteiidenfc of the island (Mr. R. D. 

 Anstead, B.A.) delivers an address on some subject of 

 interest in connexion with the cultivation and manage- 

 ment of the crops grown in the colony. 



Such a meeting was held a few weeks ago at the Hermit- 

 age Schoolroom, St. Patrick's, under the presidency of 

 Mr. George D. Kaufmann. About fifty i)eople were in 

 attendance, and the address of the Agricultural Superinten- 

 dent dealt with some points of special importance in the 

 cultivation of cacao and grrmnd provisions, and the best 

 methods for checking the spread of black lilight. 



The following details are taken from a report which 

 appeared in the (irenada Chfinrii-h' of September 5 : — 



Special stress was laid by .Mr. Anstead on the need of 

 selecting seed for planting in case of corn. The best plants 

 weie produced from the best seed, and the very best ears of 

 corn should be selected from the crop, and saved for replant- 

 ing in the next sea.son. In this way, by means of selection 

 only, the yield of corn and the size of ears, would in a few 

 years be largely increased. This principle applied not only 

 to corn, but to every croj), as cacao, nutmegs, and sweet 

 potatos. 



The mulching oi cacao was also strongly recommended. 

 St. Patrick's parish was very liable to sutler from drought, 

 but the l)ad effect'^ of this on the cacao croj) was largely 

 diminished l)y judicious nurlching. If the soil is kept well 

 cijvered by 6 or S inches of bush, grass, leaves, etc., which 

 may be obtained from waste lands, this keeps the surfact.' soil 

 moist, and by gradual decay provides a rich supply of humus. 



MAIZE CROP OF THE UNITED STATES. 



According to the Southern Planter the maize area of 

 the United States for the.,, present season amounts to 

 101,000,000 acre.s, or I per .cent, more than la.st year. In 

 the South Atlantic States the acreage is 2 per cent, greater 

 than last year. In Virginia the area planted with maize is 

 1,873,000 acres, and the condition of the crop is placed at 

 9.") (100 being normal) as against 79 a year ago, and a ten- 

 year average of 90. In Maryland maize has been plaiued 

 over 649,000 acres, and the return expected is 90 per cent, of 

 a normal crop. In North Carolina the maize area for the 

 season is 2,787,000 acres, the value of the crop being put at 

 92. The area in Tennessee is 3,014,000 acres, and the 

 condition 87. The general condition of the maize crop 

 throughout the country is e.'^tiniated at 82 as compared with 

 an average figure for the past ten years of 85. 



