"Vol. VIII. No. 194. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



31!W 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices on the London Market. 

 ]Mi-. J. L. Jackson, A.L.S , has forwarded the 

 followins; report on the London drug and spice market 

 for the month of August : — • 



The normal conditions of the Drug and Spice Markets 

 in the month of August is that of extreme quietness. It is 

 the month in the whole year when everybody is, or is expec- 

 ted to be taking a holiday. Xo improvement on the general 

 dulness of the markets that has prevailed throughout the 

 past few months was therefore to be looked for especially 

 to the uncertainty of the results of the Budget. Notwith- 

 standing all this, there is a feeling among business men that 

 there is a prospect of improvement as the autnmn advances. 

 In the matter of AVest Indian produce the following are the 

 chief items of interest. 



(ilNCER 



At a spice auction on the 11th of the month, though 

 the oti'erings were large there was a very quiet demand. Of 

 Jamaica, 340 packages were brought forward and G4 dispo.sed 

 of at the following rates ; 47.';. Gd. to oOs. for fair to good 

 ordinary, and 46s. to 46.s. Gd. for common. Some small 

 sales were also effected at 6"2s. for fair bright, and 54.<. to 5o.t. 

 for low middling. Of Cochin and t'alicut, some 856 pack- 

 ages were offered, and only 87 sold, sma'.l cut fetching 47s. 

 and tips 4.5.s-. A week later the offerings at auction amounted 

 to 238 packages of Jamaica, 120 of which were sold, 50s. to 

 51s. being given for small washed and 47s. to Ads. for 

 common mixed ratoon. 100 packages of brown rough 

 (Jaticut were offered at this sale, and all bought in at 41.v. 

 At the last sale on the 25th there was no Jamaica offered, 

 and only moderate supplies of Cochin and Calicut, for 

 which there was but a slow demand. 



NUTME(;S, MACE ANO I'IMEXTll. 



Of nutmegs at auction on the 18th, some 112 packages 

 of West Indian were offered, and di.sposed of at an advance 

 over previotis rates. Again on the 25th, 360 packages of 

 West Indian were brought forward, nearly all of which sold 

 at steady to higher rates. Of mace there has been a steady 

 demand, on the 11th thirteen packages of West Indian were 

 offered, the whole of which found buyers at Is. 7d. for fair 

 pale and reddish. Is. 5(/. to Is. 6^^. for fair red, and Is. for 

 broken. 



In the following week, namely on the 18th, prices had 

 somewhat advanced. West Indian fetching Is. 9i/. for fair 

 pale and reddish. Is. 5d. to Is. Id. for fair to good red, and 

 l.s. to Is. 3'/. for broken. Java at the same sale realized 

 Is. lOcL for fair pale, and Is. 8c?. for fair red Wild Bombay 

 was offered, but bought in at f)d. per lb. At the last sale on 

 the 25th mace declined \d. per lb. West Indian was repre- 

 sented by 104 packages, all of which were disposed of at the 

 following rates: good pale. Is. 8cZ. to Is. Dc/.; fair. Is. M. to 

 !*•. Id.; red and ordinary. Is. 'id. to Js. \d. per lb. Pimento, 

 at the auction on the 11th, was in small demand, some sales 

 being effected at 2]'/. per lb., which price has ruled for the 

 remainder of the month. 



AEEOWEOOT. V 



A quiet tone has prevailed in this article throughout the 

 month. On the Uth small sales of St. Vincent were effected 

 at 1^0?. per Bj. for fair. 



SARSPARILLA. 



At the drug auction on the 12th, sarsparilla was repre- 

 sented by 42 bales of Grey Jamaica, 1 1 of Lima Jamaica, 28 



of Native .Jamaica, C of Honduras, and 10 of Mexican. Ten 

 bales, onl}', of grey Jamaica were disposed of at Is. 3'/., and 

 slightly coarse at Is. 2</. per ft. Two bales of ordinary Lima 

 Jamaica sold at Is. per tt)., and one bale of sea damaged at 

 10(7. per ft). Three bales only of Native Jamaica found buyers 

 at Is. for fair red and 10<7. for dull. Two bales of coarse 

 Mexican fetched 4-J i. per lb., and Honduras was all bought 

 in at Is, 8rf. per lb. No further sales of importance have been 

 made during the remainder of the month. 



KOLA, LIME .lUICE, (CASSIA FISTULA. 



In the second week of the month, nineteen bags of West 

 Indian kola, good dried halves were disposed of at Ihd. t« 

 '2'ld. per lb., and at the last auction a single bag of dried small 

 and medium Jamaica was sold at i^d. per lb. (_)n the 11th of 

 the month, common brown raw Antigua lime juice was 

 brought in at Is. Id. and good pale Montserrat at Is. Sd. 

 On the 25th, ten puncheons of fair pale raw Dominican 

 were offered and bought in at Is. Sil. per gallon. Oil of 

 lime was brought forward at auction on the 11th, six cases 

 being offered two of which sold at 5s. 6(/. for good expressed 

 Dominican, Is Qd. being paid for distilled. On the 12th, 

 two bags of good bright Cassia Fistula .sold at 18s. per cwt., 

 and on the 26th. four cases of fair St Lucia were offered and 

 bought in at 20s. In the early part of the month some 

 private sales were reported to have been made in Antigua 

 tamarinds at 10s. per cwt,., in bond. 



RICE IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



The last fortnightly report of Messrs. Sandbach, 

 Parker & Co., of Georgetown, on the rice industry of 

 British Guiana, dated September 17, 1909, gives 

 information as follows : — 



The weather during the fortnight has been very hot, 

 and paddy is ripening fast. Some of the new crop will be 

 ready for reaping at the end of this month. The old crop 

 paddy is now about all milled, and there will be very littlr 

 rice in the market for the next fortnight. 



The local demand has fallen off somewhat: dealers 

 were buying from hand to mouth in anticipation of being 

 able to secure new crop rice at somewhat lower prices than 

 at present prevail. 



The new rice crop will not be in the market iu any 

 quantity before the end of ( )ctober, though small lots may be 

 offered early in the coming month. 



Shipments to the West India Islands during the fort- 

 night amounted to about 3,500 bag.s. 



We quote to-day, f.o.b. Demerara, for good export 

 quality : — 



Nominally 18s. 9-/. to 19s. M. per bag of 180 lb. gross. 

 17s. 3d. to 18.1. 3d. „ „ „ 164 a. „ 



We have, however, no stock to offer for export. 



Lime Juice Tests in Dominica. 



The Demerara OjHi-i<il G<nette contains an announce- 

 ment that arrangements have been made to test samples of 

 lime juice at the Botanic Station. 



Determinations will be undertaken for both raw and con- 

 centrated juice. For a test giving the total solid.s, citric acid, 

 and solids not citric acid in ounces per gallon, and the purity 

 and .specific gravity, a fee of 2s. for each sample of concen- 

 trated juice, and one of Is. 6^?. for each .sample of raw juice, 

 ^vill be charged. If the test is to include the determination 

 of citric acid, only, the charges will be respectively Is. Gd. 

 and \s\ for each sample. 



