Vol,. XII. No. 283. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



79 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



The Report of Mr. J. R. Jackson is as follows: — 



Owing to the Christmas holidays which extended one 

 week into the new year, the review of the drug markets for 

 the month of .January will actually cover a period of only 

 three weeks, the first auction being held on January 9, 

 when the markets showed very little animation -the 

 continued unsettled state of the Balkan question being par- 

 tially responsible -while on the other hand, it had been 

 anticipated that the coming into operation, with the new 

 year, of the Nationa,! Insurance Act, there would be a very 

 large increase in the demand for drugs, which up to the 

 present time has not by any means been realized. The 

 following notes refer to West Indian products. 



GINGER. 



At the first spice auction on the Stb, the market was 

 very quiet, 14-5 bags of washed rough Cochin were offered and 

 bought in at 3.3,-:. per cwt. 28.S. being paid for a few packages 

 of wormy, SO bags of limed .Japan were sold, without reserve 

 at 23s. per cwt. A week later there was a very small demand 

 at nominal rates, the bulk offered being bought in. On the 

 22nd some sales of wished Jamaica were made at from 58s. 

 to 68s., common fetching 51s. At the last auction on the 

 29th, all the offerings, which consisted of 110 bags of fair 

 bright washed rough Cochin ginger, were bought in at 38s. 

 per cwt. 



NUTMEGS, MACE, PIMENTO, AND ARROWROOT. 



At the first auction on the 8th of the month, nutmegs 

 were represented by 167 packages of West Indian, all of 

 which were .sold at the following rates: 66's, G^d., 69's to 

 79's 6'/. to 7d., 81's to 89"s o^d. to 6d , 94's to' 115's 5hd. 

 to 6c?., 106's to 116's 5|<7. to 6d , and 120'sto 135's ^d. 

 A week later, namely on the 15th, 229 packages of: West 

 Indian nutmegs were brought forward and. disposed of GO's 

 to 65's fetching Id. to Ihd., 72's to 112's 5Jrf. to 6d , 114's 

 to 140's 5|(?. to a^d. On the 21st the offerings of West 

 Indian were seven barrels which were all sold at rates 

 slightly varying from the above. Again on the 29th, 98 

 packages of West Indian were offered and mostly sold. 

 Mace has been in fair demand. On the 8th of the month 

 some 26 packages of West Indian were brought forward, 

 most of which found buyers, 2s. id. being paid for pale, 2.s 

 to 2s. 3d. for ordinary to fair, and Is. 9d. to Is. lid. for 

 broken A week later prices had advanced slightly, 42 

 packages of West Indian being sold at 2s to 2s 6(7. for pale, 

 while broken had dropped to Is. Sd. to Is. dd. At the 

 auction on the 22nd the only offerings were 80 [lackages of 

 Eastern, none of which found buyers. Pimento has been 

 in slow demand. At the auction on the 29th 118 bags were 

 offered and bought in at 2id. per tt>. Arrowroot has also 

 been inactive; fifteen cases of Natal were offered at auction 

 on the 2 1 St and the whole bought in at 9d. per lb, 



SARSAPARILLA. 



At the first drug auction on ihe 0th of the month, 

 sarsaparilla was represented by 4 bales of grey .Jamaica, 

 14 bales of native Jamaica, 10 of Mexican and 2 of Hondu- 

 ras The whole of the grey Jamaica was disposed of. Is. lOd. 

 per B). being paid for ordinary part roughish, none of the 

 other kinds found buyers. On the 2.]rd the offerings were 



grey Jamaica 15 bales and native Jamaica 5. The whole 

 of the first named sold, fair to good fetching Is. lOd. to 2s. 

 per fc. There were no buyers for the native Jamaica 



LIME .rUICE, LIME OIL, KOLA .VND TAMARINDS. 



In the matter of lime juice prices have recently 

 advanced from 3d to id. per gallon, good fetching from Is. 2d. 

 to Is. 3(/. per gallon, and inferior 10(/. At the first auction 

 of the month, three cases of good West Indian 

 distilled Lime oil were sold at Is. 2hd. per fc. The 

 quotation for hand pressed was 8s. At auction in the 

 early part of the month '>d. per lb. was paid for 2 bags of 

 small to medium halves of dried .Jamaica kola, and at 

 another auction 4 bags of dried West Indian fetched id. to 

 4|rf. per If). These prices prevailed at the end of the month for 

 dried West Indian halves, and whole nuts There has been 

 but little done with West Indian tamarinds, but about the 

 middle of the month there was a fairly large consignment of 

 black Calcutta in casks which sold at lis. per cwt. 



At an auction towards the end of January there was 

 a very large supply of vanilla pods amounting to about 

 960 tins, 800 of which sold at a decline of 2s. per Jb. for 

 long, and Is 6d. to 2s. for medium and short pods. 



Rainfall and the Cotton Crop in St. Vincent.— 



The Agricultural Superintendent, St, Vincent, reports 

 that the recent very wet weather has brought the cotton 

 crop to an abrupt termination, and that the reaping of 

 arrowroot has been retarded. Figures supplied by this 

 Ofiicer, dealing with the rainfall at the Botanic Station during 

 1912, show that this was only 87 11 inches, which is 18'58 

 inches below the average of the past nineteen years, and the 

 lowest annual rainfall that has so far been recorded. In 

 addition, the distribution of the rainfall throughout the 

 i.sland was unsatisfactory; the last three months of the year 

 were very wet generally, and this circumstance has con- 

 tributed toward the present condition of the cotton crop. 



Other information from tlie same source shows that the 

 year before (1911) the rainfall was much above the average. 

 This was due primarily to the abnormal precipitation of 

 21'81 inches in the month of September. The last two 

 cotton seasons have been the worst so far experienced since 

 the cotton industry was started, one being the result of an 

 abnormal September rainfall, and the other the result of 

 a wet reaping season. An annual rainfall, below the average, 

 but well distributed, seems to be best suited to the require- 

 ments of Sea I.sland cotton in St. Vincent, 



Information has been received from St. Kitts to the 

 eft'ect that the Local Government will provide agricultural 

 scholarships at the Craniinar School, in the place of those 

 given until recently by the Imperial Department of Agricul- 

 ture. In the notification of this, the number of such 

 scholarships is not stated. They are each -worth £8 per 

 annum — an amount sufficient to cover the school fees exclusive 

 of books and club subscriptions. Each is tenable for one year, 

 and renewable subject to a satisfactory report from the Head 

 Master at the end of the year. To be eligible, candidates 

 must be resident in the Presidency, not above thirteen j-ears 

 of age, and able to produce satisfactory certificates of industry 

 and good conduct. At the same time, one parent must be 

 domiciled in the Presidency, unless the case is exceptional. 

 In granting the schoUrships, preference i3 to be given to the 

 sons of planters or of persons employed agriculturally. 



