Vol. XIV. No. 332. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



31 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mi. J. El. Jackson, A.L.S., has forwarded bhe follow- 

 ing report "ii bhe London drug and spice markets for 

 the month of November. 



The return of the spice and drug markets to their nearly 

 normal conditions, together with the satisfactory amount 



of business thai bas I u transacted during November, is 



a proof of the foresight of the < lovei i entj and i be excellent 

 services of the British Navy in protecting and keeping op a 

 our oversea trade routes, by which means our markets gener 

 ally have been fairly well supplied. In the < ise of some 

 products which come under our consideration, prices have 

 advanced during the month, us in that of West Indian 

 mace and nutmegs; while citric acid took a somewhat firmer 

 position in the middle of the month, but dropped later. 

 The following are the details. 



It will be remembered that the spice auctions, this 

 year, have been beld only once a fortnight, instead of weekly 

 as formerly. At the first sale on the 11th of the month 

 the offerings amounted to 384 packages of Cochin and 

 Calii'ut, all of which were bought in, fair brown rough 

 Calient at 26*., and washed rough Cochin at 24s. per cwt. 

 A fortnight later, namely onthe 25th, the prices ranged from 

 33*. tn 36*. for common, 10*. to 15*. for medium to good 

 lam ma, ami 23*. to 23s. 6d. for Cochin. 



NUTMEGS, MACE, PIMENTO, \\l> AKBOWROOT. 



There was a good demand fur nutmegs at the first 



auction on the 111 li, when the large number of 711 



packages of West Indian were offered, and sold at the 



following rates: 61's tu ~H's, ."id. to lOd. per lb. : 72's 



to 82's, 5fd. ti. <)!.d.; 85's to 95's, 4Jd. to 5id.; U8's 

 tu I29's, \\d.\ and 132's to 140's, 4{d. to £\d. All 

 these prices showed an advance on previous rates. Mace 

 was also in good supply and demand as the following 

 prices will show, good West Indian lieing Id. to 2d. per ft. 

 dearer than it was last month. The following are some of 

 the prices realized for the 200 packages sold: bold 2s. 3d. 

 per ft; good pale 2s. Id.; fair Is. 9d. to Is. lid.; ordinary 

 Is. orf. to Is. Id.: red I*, id. to Is. 6(2.; and common Is. 4c?. 

 For pimento there has Keen a quiet demand, 2d. per lb. 



being the price asked in the early part of the month, but 

 at the end of the month 2\d. was the quotation. At the 

 •end of the month fair manufacturing St. Vincent arrowroot 

 was quoted at -.Id. per lb., and coin n at 2d. to 2\d. 



- LRSAPARUX V. 



This article has been in regular demand throughout the 



month, genuine grey Jamaica lieing quoted at Is. 1 Id. 

 jiei- lb., and Lima-Jamaica at I*. 8<2. 



CITRIC \> 111, I.1MK .11 UK, LIME OIL, KoLA, AND 

 CASHEW NUTS. 



At the beginning of the month citric acid was quoted at 

 from 2*. 6d. to 2*. Id. per Bb. A fortnight later the demand 

 bad increased, with a rise of from 2a. fid. to 2*. 8c?. per lb., 



falling again at the end of the month to 2*. *iJ,d. fair raw 

 West Indian lime juice stood at 2s. 3d. to 2*. Id. per gallon 



at the beginning of the month, but in consequei f fresh 



lis, and in anticip ' : 'in of still further shipments, tin: 

 mi. mil closed with a maxiinum price of 2s. 3d. West India 

 di tilled lime oil bas been arriving in fair quantities, ami at. 

 ih.' beginning "i tin- month was -..M at 3s. 8(2. per lb. 

 \ fortnight later it dropped to 3s. •"»/. At auction on the 



I lth of tin- i th I'i bags "f dried West Indian kola. 



"•ii' offered, and 8 were -old at \ ';•!. per ft. At tl ml 



of tin- month some g I bright West Indian were offered, -I'd. 



per ft. being asked tor them. At the last auction on the 

 26th, so in.' i'ii cases of helled cashevr nuts were offered, and 

 1 ght in ai 55*. per cwt, 



INDIAN CORN. 



A METHOD OF PLANTING. 



In recent numbers of tlie Agricultural Newt seasonal 

 notes have been given in connexion with select! i seed 



corn, and in the present issue it is intended to make reference 

 to a method of planting which forms the subject of Fm/aers' 

 Bulletin, No. 100, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, entitled A More Profitable Corn Planting 



Method, by Mr. C. P. Hartley. 



In the pamphlet entitled Indian ('urn, which lias 

 recently been issued by the Imperial Department, it is stated 

 that it makes little difference in the yield whether the 

 plants stand singly in the rows, or whether they stand in 

 hills with three or four plants to the hill, so long as there is a 

 full stand of bearing plants to the acre. Mr. Haiti. \ - 

 periments in corn planting lead to the conclusion that when 

 corn is planted in hills, a much better yield may be obtained 

 if the plants stand a few inches apart, that is to say, if the 

 seeds are dropped a few inches apart nislead of lieing dropped 

 together, in one hole. This bulletin shows that each corn 



plant needs some 5 or 6 inches of root spaci dl sides in 



order to obtain a firm hold in the ground, ami that when the 

 plants of a hill are very closely bunched together, they are 

 easily upset by the wind, and the roots of one plant interfere 

 with those of the others. 



The arrangement recommended is the planting of four 

 seeds to the hill, these being placed with reference to each other 

 as at the corners of a 5-inch square. It has been found that 

 when corn is planted in this manner a better yield is gen- 

 erally obtained, and the plants are stronger against high 

 u inds. 



For the experimental planting of corn in this manner 

 Mr. Hartley used a board in which wen- inserted four funnels, 

 placed as already described at the coiners of a 5-inch square; 

 a handle of convenient length for carrying the board was 

 attached to its centre, and the kernels were dropped singly 

 in each of the four funnels at each hill. 



It was found that a minimum increase of yield of 2 

 1'iishels to the acre, or about a I per cent, increase, was tin- 

 result of this method of planting. Mr. Hartley estimates 

 that a planting machine arranged to drop the grain as 

 described in these experiments would be paid for by the 

 increase of yield in one year on a 50-acre crop of corn. 

 A t per cent, increase in the value of the com crop of Illinois 

 foi one year yvould amount to some $6,000,000. 



Among other experiments that are almost certain to be- 

 llied in the West Indies in connexion with the cultivation 

 of Indian corn, attention might well be directed to the 

 matter of planting at different distances, and especiallj to 



the matter of spacing the plants in the hills or holes. 



