Vol. XIV. No. .117. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



271 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. .1. I!. Jackson, A.L.S warded the follow- 



ing report on the London drug and spier markets 

 for the monl li of June: 



June, even in normal times, is always the slackest 

 month of the year in the Mincing Lane markets, when the 

 summer holidays are in full swing. But though the war 

 has absorbed almost every other jht, holidaj it the 



time of writing are being taken, though in a much more 

 subdued fashion than usual. A fair amount <>i business has 

 lie. mi carried through at the weekly auctions during the 



i. in produce generally, mostly with an upward ten 

 with regard to prices a remark that applies equally t" 

 West Indian products as to those < untries. 



At the tii -i auction on the 2nd of the month, 662packa 

 of Cochin and Calicut were offered, and a large portion 

 disposed of, medium and small washed rough Cochin 

 fetching 30*. per cwt., and small lean brown Calient 28s. 

 There was no Jamaica offered at this sale, but a fortnight 

 later, namely on the 23rd, some 51 packages of new season 

 Jamaica were offered and partly sold, bold plump dull 

 washed fetching 75s., and medium to bold dull washed tils, to 

 65s. It was the expert opinion that this new crop 

 Jamaica was of better quality than has been the case for 

 some time past. 



In nutmegs and mace the market has been very quiet. 



- LRSAPARILLA. 



At auction on the 10th of the month sarsaparilla was 

 in good supply as follows: Grey Jamaica, 14 packages; native 

 •Jamaica, 6 packages: Lima-Jamaica, '.•: Honduras, 23; and 

 Mexican. 19. Of the first, 34 bales were disposed of at 

 Is. lid. per th. The 6 bales of native Jamaica sold at 

 Is. for pale red, Is. \d. for dullish, and Is. 2d. for fair to 

 .good red. None of the Honduras was sold, Is. Id. to 

 Is. lOrf. per lti. being asked for it. The Lima-Jamaica also 

 failed to find a purchaser, and 11 bales only of the Mexican 

 were sold, fetching 9 [d. per lb. 



CITRIC M'tli. LIME JUICE, LIME OIL, KOLA, INNATTO, \M' 

 C \ssia FIST1 I. L 



At the beginning of the month citric acid had 



advanced \}.d. per tt>. on previous rates, 2s. 7 .'.</. being the 

 lowest quotation. A week later it advanced to 2s. 8d., in 

 the third week to 2$. dd., and at the end of the month to 

 2s. I0d.; and it was confidently stated that good concentrated 

 juice would in future not be obtainable at less than 3s. At 

 the beginning of the month it was stated that there « is 

 practically no lime juice in the market, but al luction on 



1 

 Indian ju ' r gallo 



distilled lime oil, in tin earl} pari of th was 



rep irted as fetch iei lb. retail, bu 



later 5s. 6of. pi ■ [it ed ■ 



ui>l 7s. 3d. for li ', rid of 



month is much n 6s. « i i lor distilled 



oil, and 8s. for expi the Indian 



oil was being an with interest. Kola was 



represented at auctio 10th by II ;es, only 



I of which found buyers at 3d. per lb. for dull, 



wormy. For the ret dng 10 packages bright 



halves od. per ft. wa I \nnal to e extent of 



102 p if good Madras w tght forwai 



auction on the 20th, but were all bought in at 8<£. per lb. A 

 week later, however, they were obtainable at "■!. At the 

 beginning of the month good West Indian pods of i 

 Fistula were offered at 32s. 6d. per cwt., but failed to find 

 buyers. 



COMMERCIAL NOTES ON CACAO AND 



RUBBER. 



The following notes on West Indian cacao and 

 Malayan rubber appeared in the i al Jov/rnal for 



July 1915, and are reproduced here for the benefit of 

 our readers: — 



• \< \o. The quality of Trinidad cacao is excellent, and the 

 price is generally a few shillings over other West Indian cacaos. 

 But the difference of price has not recently been so great as it 

 used to be, and complaints have been made that the cacao is 

 'clayed'. Clay has a wonderful preservative effect, and on 

 this account the old Spanish planters always used it; it gives 

 a g I aroma to the cacao when the bean is broken. If prop- 

 erly used the coating is so fine as to be almost imperceptible. 

 Clay may be used to increase the weight or to disguise the 

 wantof proper curing, but a proper application improves the 

 appearance and is therefore favoured. Excessive claying in 

 Trinidad has now been stopped. 



One thing that militates against first-class cacao is that 

 the chocolate business takes up a large supply, and a cheap 

 cacai i is nearly as good for this purpose. Indeed the Trinidad 

 cacao sent to be made up into chocolate for soldiers was too 

 good to make an acceptable chocolate, and the manufacturers 

 advised the mixture of an inferior variety. 



rubber. The future of rubber companies depends on 

 the cost of production, and a great reduction has been 

 effected and is still going on. Thus the Consolidated Malay 

 Rubber Estates have brought down the figure from Is. lOrf. 

 in I'.tl •_' to Is. 2'46<2. in 1914, and with largely increasing 

 Crops they expect to touch Is. 



The system of permitting shipments of rubber to 

 America under guarantee- lias given great relief to plantations, 



as it has been largely used. Tl ucession was in the 



interest not merely of the growers, but also of the military 



authorities. Rubber enters into industries so variously that 

 a shortage in America would have seriously hampered the 

 production of the munition* of war intended for this country. 

 lii iccumulated stock will not have gone very far in face of 



demands; and the requirements will be so vast 

 the war is long prolonged that the industry is likely to 

 a prosperity that will make amends for long depression. 



