Vol. XVII. No. 415. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



95 



•and disappointing results are to be expected if the soil 

 .is too dry for fermentation to take place. 



Where the soil is dry, it is a good plan to compost the 

 offal and dried blood in a heap with lime and soil in alternate 

 Jayers, covering the heap with soil to prevent loss of ammonia, 

 and keeping it moist with urine, waste water from tlie farm, 

 etc., which may conveniently be poured at frcquor-t intervals 

 through a central passage left open for the purpose. On 

 ^account of the fact that fermentation is necessary in order 

 to render the nitrogen available for the plant, these manures 

 do not give immediate results, and some time must be 

 allowed for them to undergo fermentation before results are 

 to be expected. 



K.\TE OK ArPLiCATioN. — For land which is to carry 

 ordinary crops, such as vegetables, fodder crops, etc., a dres- 

 sing of 4 to .5 cwt. per acre of offal manure would be a fair 

 dressing; and for fruit trees in full bearing up to twelve 

 years old, 5 to *i BE), of offal manure per , tree. Somewhat 

 laiger tjuantities should be used for older trees. 



In the case of dried blood, about half ihe above quantity 

 will provide the same amount of nitrogen. 



(3flal manure, blood and bone dried manure, and dried 

 blood are all suitable for use on any class of soil and for any 

 kind of crop. They have the advantage over chemical manures 

 ■containing nitrogen and phosphoic acid, such as sulphate of 

 ammonia and superphosphate,that they contain organic matter 

 in addition, which produces humus — an extremly valuable soil 

 constituent. They have the disadvantage however that, even 

 under favourable conditions, they are slow in their action; at 

 the same time, this disadvantage is compensated foi to some 

 estent by Ihe fact that their beneficial action is more lasting, 

 and that they are not so liable to be leached out. 



Mr. F. B. (iuthric, the writer of the article from which 

 the above is abstracted, emphasizes two points to which atten- 

 tion has been previously drawn, and which must not be lost 

 sight of: (1) that neither oft'al not dried blood is a complete 

 manure, and (2) that good results are not to be excepted if the 

 soil is too dry. Failure to realize these facts may result in 

 disippointment. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. J. K. Jackson, A.L.S., has forwarded the fol- 

 lowing report on the London drug and spice market 

 for the month of .January 191M: — 



The report of the condition of the drug and spice markets 

 (or the first month of 1918, differs but very little from what 

 Las prevailed during the preceding twelve months. The 

 tonnage question is one that affects all oversea prodicts alike, 

 whether it be for food, medicine or manufactures, and the 

 consequent reduction in imports automatically causes increase 

 in tte prices demanded, so that buyers are still depending 



■on I he lowest limitation of purchase-* to meet current demands. 



'The following are some :f the principal item? of interest: — 



rJINGER. 



There has been b'lt a very quiet demand for this article. 



At auction on ths iJ-lth of the month the offerings consisted 



-of +tf) bales of Cochin and Calicut, all of which were 



bopght in, washed . Cochin at 7 'J <. per cwt. : some ISO bags 



o .•:•?.! TiFsc limcyl wcr-; also held at •")ls. to '>os. A week later 



it was reported that some sales had been made of gooi 

 common Jamaica at 80s. to 22s. dd. Some medium to ^ood 

 also found purchasers at lOOf. to 10-5s., and washed Cochia 

 at 70s. 



NUTMEGS .A^XD MACE. 



Nutmegs were in good supp'y at auctioii on tL^; lOtlt 

 when some 392 packages were offered and sold at an advance 

 of 2'^. per tt). on previous rates. Again on the 24th of the 

 month some 60 packages of West Indian, and 27 of Singapore 

 were brought forward and disposed of at steady rates. \t 

 the first sale on the 10th of the month as many as 1,04G 

 packages of mace were brought forward, and sold at 

 a decline of from 3d. to 8d. per fc. on previous prices. Agaia 

 at auction on the 24th of the month there wis a steady 

 demand for mace; 3.5 j .ickages of West Indian wero 

 sold at the following rates: for bold Hat pale 4s. Qa., good 

 pale 3s. Id., for fair 3s. ]J. to 3.='. Id., and for fair comraoa 

 to ordinary 2s. 9c?. to 3s. 



SAUSAPAKILLA. 



At auction on the 19^h of the month sarsaparilla was 

 in fair supply, being represented by 3(? bales of gre; Jamaica, 

 14 of native Jamaica, and 6 of Lima- Jamaica. Two bales 

 only of the grey Jamaica were disposed of at 3s. 9d. per lb. 

 for fair arey. The 1 4 bales of native Jamaica were all sold, 

 12 of them fetching 2s. 3d. per &. for ordinary red and 

 yellow. Of the G bales of Lima-.Jamaica offered, only 1 

 was disposed of at 3s. 6(7. per lb. for part mouldy. 



CITEIC ACID, ARROWROOT, KOLA, CASSI ' 

 TAMARINDS, and PIHENTO. 



FISTULA, 



.\t the beginning of the month the ijuotation for citric 

 acid was from 3s. ]d. to 3s. 2d. per B)-, which was a sliijht. 

 decline on the price of the previous month. Later in the 

 month, however, the quotations rose to 3s. 2J. to 3s. Ihl. 

 At the beginning of the month good manufacturing 

 St. Vincent arrowroot was quoted at 7s. ^J. jier ft. Three 

 weeks later it was reported that a considerable amount of 

 business had been done at prices varying from ly^d. to S|(i. 

 per &. At auction on the 10th of the month kol 1 was 

 represented by 24 bags of dried West Indian, which were- 

 sold at prices varying from Id. to 9]d. per Bb Ai;airi at 

 auction on the 16th some G8 packages of kola were 

 offered, and all disposed of. Forty-five packages of \Vest 

 Indian, chiefly from Jamaica realized from 8J<f. to 9id. 

 per lb. for fair to bold, while "id. to 8d. was paid for part 

 mouldy. Some 1 S bags of Java were also disposed of at this 

 auction, fair to good bright halves fetching from 8hd. to 'M.; 

 small halves realized 7 i|ti., and part wormy 6 i'i. per ib. At 

 the auction on the 17th Cassia Fistula was represented by 

 13 packages, only 9 of which found buyers. For 7 bags 

 of wormy dry pods from 1 )ominica 70s. was paid, wbiii- TK*. 

 was paid for fair bold fresh pDds. At the beginning of the 

 month it was reported that a fair amount of business i:ad 

 been done in West Indian tamarinds at t7s. 61/, in bond. Of 

 pimento 200 bags were offered at the last auction of the month, 

 all of which were bought in at 4^rf. In connexion with pimento 

 the Chemist and I)rti:/ffist has the following note on Pimento 

 Oil: 'Stocks of the usual West Indian distilled oil as 

 imported appear^ to have disappeared off the mirket, 

 and recourse has to be had to English distilled, whio'.. is 

 worth about \os. per 11). There is a stock of over 40,000 bags 

 of pimento in London, enough for live 3'eats' consumption, 

 while the export is prohibited.' 



