ToL. VII r. No. 180. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



95 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices on the London Market. 



Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.LS., has forwarded the 

 following report on the London .spice and drug markets 

 during the month of January : — 



The lioiit'd-foi- improvement in the ih-ug uud spiee 

 markets at the commencement of tlie year has now been 

 fullv lealized, but it must be borne in nund that the exten- 

 sion of tlie (.'hristmas lioHdays, or rather the after-ert'ect, 

 i.s feh for at least a fortnight after the season itself. Indeed, 

 -the iirst drug sale of the New Year was Iveld on 

 January 1+- aperiod of si.x weeks' having elapsed since tlie 

 previous sale. Though the supi)ly of drugs at this atiction 

 was large and well assorted, the demand was only up to 

 a f;dr average. The articles tliat attracted the most attention 

 during the'month have been those atfected Ity the terrible 

 earthquake in Sicily, and notably the essences of lemon and 

 '>er£ramot. West Indian products have not commanded any 

 .special attention, as will l)e seen by tlie following notes :— 

 <;ixoKi;. 



.\t the spice auctiiai on -laruiary <), the oti'ciings 

 amounted only to IfiO bags of Jaiian, 2.s-. M. per cwt. being 

 paid for slightly wormy and limed. No Jamaica or Cochin 

 '^vas brought forward, liut private sales of washed Coehir. 

 were said" to have taken place at 3.5.?. A week'' later, Jamaica 

 was offered to the extent of -^46 barrels, Go of which sold 

 without reserve at from 46s. to -f9.s. for fair bright Cochin. 

 •Calient ginger wa.s reiire.sented by some 500 packages, 

 . all of which "were bought in at the following prices : Sl'.s. fi-/. 

 for un.sorted native cut, -i^s. for bold brown Calicut rough, and 

 3.5.S-. to SG?. for washed rough Cochin. Nothing was otiered 

 at the later auctions. 



NUTMEIIS, MACK, AND I'IMENTO. 



Little attention has been given to either of these .spices 

 during the month, and for nutmegs an<l mace there were 

 practically no quotations Pimento, at the first sale, was 

 ■ottered to" the extent of -203 bags, all of which were bought 

 in at from 2-^(1 to ■2-^rl. per K). On the 13th, out of 300 

 bags brought forward, 11-t were solil at 2il. per lb. for fair ; 

 and again a week later. 1 L'(l liags of the same (|Uulity f>und 

 buyers :i,t the same price. 



V i:ko\v i:oot. 



The dealings in this article have maintained a (piiet 

 .tone throughout the month, the ([uotations for tit. Vincent 

 Tanging from 2iil. to 3-J(/. per lb., according to cpiality. 



SARSAPAKII.LA. 



At the first drug auction on .January 14, IG bales 

 of genuine grey Jamaica were ottered, and all disposed of at 

 prices ranging from l.v. 4'/. to l.v. Cxi. per ft. for ordinary 

 .t'ood grey. IJeven bales of Lima-Jamaica were ottered, and 

 all sold at from l.s. 2'/. to l.<. 3*/. Nineteen bales <jf native 

 red were al.so brought forward, 13 of which were sold 

 at lOrf. to 1.1. per ft. for dull to fair red, ;ukI 9d. for .sea- and 

 water-damaged. At the, la>t sate on the 28th, 44 bales of 

 grey Jamaica were offered, 42 of which found buyers at 

 Is.Drf. for good, and Is. 3(?. to L. -Id. for slightly coarse and 

 dark. Thirteen bales of native Jamaica were offered, and all 

 sold at from JOrf. to,l.s. for dull yellowish to good red. Of 

 Lima. 1 4 bales were offered, and 7 sold at from l.v. ]<!. to 

 Is. 2i/. per ft. 



KOLA, LIME .JUK'K, OIL oK LI.ME, ETC. 



Of Kola, 3 bags of fair .Jamaica were offered in tiie 

 middle of the month and sold at l.s. i>L per ft., and another 



5 bag.s of good quality realized 2.s-. 4(7. [lei- ft. Kighl bags 

 of (.'eylon, ranging from fair to sea-damaged, fetched from 

 ['^■/. to l.',(/. per 111. -Vt the close of the month 2 baruls of 

 mouldy dark .Jamaica were ottered and sold at Ij'/. p< i Hi- 

 On the 13th, 4 puncheons and G hogsheads of West Indian 

 lime juice were disposed of from at is. to \s. 2d. per gallon, 

 and a >veek later, fair pale raw West Inflian was ott'eieil at 

 Is. 'id. ])er gallon. It was announced that 4G hogsheads 

 had arrived from Dominica. In the early part of the month 

 oil <if lime was reported to be in good demand, realizing from 

 2*-. M. to 3»'. pe"- ft. for West Indian. A week later, 4 ca.ses 

 of fair distilled West Indian iTold at 2s. Qd. per ft., and for 

 another 3 cases, with slightly rusty tins, 2s. \d. was paid. 

 At the last auction, oil of lime was still in steady demand, 

 4 cases and 14 bottles of West Indian distilled finding buyers 

 at 2.S. 9'^. per ft. On the 13th, G barrels of sweet We.st 

 Indian orange oil were ottered, and all were bought in at 

 ]hs. per ft., an ottei of 13.<. being refused. Nineteen bales rif 

 (Uinelld (dhn were ottered on the 14th, 3 (.>nly being sold at 

 50.S-. per cwt. for fair pale. 



RICE, LIMES. AND SISAL HEMP IN 

 BRITISH GUIANA. 



Returns lately placed before the British (luiaiia 

 Board of Agriculture by the Director of Science and 

 Agriculture show that the area phinted witJi rice in the 

 colony for the crop of 1908 amounted to 37,851 acres, 

 as compared with 29,700 acres in the previous year. 

 The total yield of paddy was returned as 962,070 l)ags 

 of 120 tb. each, or aii average crop of 2.54 bags per 

 acre. 



There are naturally considerable differences in the yield.^ 

 per acre obtained in different districts ; the figures vary from 

 17 bags on the Abary Creek to 30 bags on the East Bank of 

 the Demerara river. In some cases two crops were obtained 

 in the course of the year, and then the total yield was 

 considerably higher ; in North Essequebo,- for in.stance, the 

 yield was -57 bags, or 34 bags from the first crop and 2?> 

 from the later ; in South Essequebo the total return from 

 two crops was 39 bags. 



A regular trade in British Giuana rice may now be said 

 to be established with the West Indian islands. The 

 Governor of British Guiana in a recent address to the Court 

 of Policy pointed out the importance of maintaining a high 

 standard in regard to the exported grain, and suggested that 

 it may become necessary at no distant date to fix a standard, 

 and to appoint an inspector for the purpose of preventing 

 injury to the trade by the shipment of rice of inferior 

 quality. It is estimated that the imports of rice into the 

 colony, which have gradually fallen from 13,290,000 ft. in 

 1904-5, to 2,12G,5G0 ft. in 1907-8, will in the jiresent year 

 probalily not exceed 990,000 ft. 



The cultivation of both limes and sisal hemp has also 

 been started in British Guiana, and the future development 

 of these industries will be watched with interest. An area, 

 of land at Agatash was sold to the Demerara Development- 

 Company for purpo-ses of lime growing, and of this, 20O 

 acres have already been planted up. A scheme for growing^ 

 , this fruit on a large scale has also been started in Berbice, 

 where at present about 70 acres are under the crop. 



Sisal hemp cultivation may po.ssibly prove to be 

 a remunerative industry on lands not suited to other economic 

 crops. A large area (7,000 acres) in the neighbourhood of" 

 Kalacoon, Esseijuebo, has been leased to the Bartica Agri- 

 cultural E.states (,'ompany for planting .si.sal. 



/ 



