190 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



JiNE 1-2, 1903: 



TROPICAL PRODUCTS ON THE 

 HAMBURG MARKET. 



In a recent report, the United State.s Consul at 

 Hamburg describes that town as being tiie most 

 important market in the world for many classes of 

 tropical products, such as come from Central and South 

 America and the West Indies. The following e.xtracts 

 from the report, relating to cocoa-nuts, hardwoods, and 

 tortoise shells, may be of some interest : — 



All cocoa-nuts are sold by public auction in Hamburg. 

 Such as arrive from Colombia, West Indies, and Africa are 

 bandied on consignment. Ceylon nuts are the best, and 

 command the highest prices. Triniilad nuts stand ne.Kt in 

 rank. Colombian nuts are not much in favour, as they aie 

 poorly assorted, and the bags are of nnetjual weiglit. 

 Colombian nuts when .sold at auction aie usually disposed of 

 at the following prices : Extra large, 100 nuts weighing 

 17.5 IT)., K3 marks (.'?3-09) : large nuts, 100 weighing U2 It)., 

 (i?2-S6 : medium nuts, 100 weighing U4 lb., !?2-38 : .small nut.s, 

 100 weighing 112 Bj., -I?! -90. " 



Xuts are counted after being s<i!d, .iml mily good nuts 

 are accei>ted. It is best to ship cocoa-nuts before the fresh 

 fruit season comes on. Thereafter the demand closes entirely. 



The timber market seems at present to be depressed. 

 T'be last shipments of mahogany and cedar fifjui Colombia 

 have been of such poor iiuality that buyers are discouraged. 

 There seems to be a lical over-stock of mahogany of all 

 kinds. Lignum vit;e ;< but little known on this market. 

 Ebony can be u.sed i. a small way, but prices are low. 

 Present ai>proximate x.Jiies per ton for hardwoods are : 

 mahogany, !i?19--tG to .'?2'J-1.5 ; lignum vit:e, ■■^7-2'.( to 812-lG : 

 ebony, $7-29 to!t;i2-lG. 



Tortoise shells from Central America and the West 

 Indies are all known as ' West Indies shells.' These goods 

 are only accepted on consignment^ as shii>pers do not assort 

 them according to quality. One tortoise, for example, may 

 .supply t\v(i, thiee, or even more dift'erent grades of shell. 

 The market is now quiet, and prices run from •'?3'57 to 

 $5-9.5 per A kilogram (Ullt).). There is a demand for light 

 yellow, and light red-black pieces of shell, and these 

 connnand good prices. 



PRAEDIAL LARCENY AT JAMAICA. 



Praedial larceny is a danger from which all the 

 West Indian islands suffer in varying degree. It appears 

 to be particularly prevalent at Jamaica, and a letter 

 on the subject submitted to a late meeting of the 

 Agricultural Society of the island dealt with a notable 

 instance of the degree to which it is not infrecjuently 

 carried, and indicated the effect which the practice 

 may tend to liave in preventing progress in certain 

 directions. 



A religious body from America not long since purchased 

 an area of 507 acres of land at Riversilale, where they estab- 

 lished a training .school for youths and girls of the lower 

 classe.s, not only from .Jamaica, but from other West Indian 

 islands as well. I'iicli pupil was obliged, as a part of his or 

 her training, to di) a certain amount "f tield work. A large 

 nundier of pupils entered the .school, and in order to make 

 the institution self-sup|>orting, a consi<lerablc area of land 

 was placed under provision crops. 



Such a schiK)! as that at Itiveradale should prove a valu- 

 able addition to the eilucative agencies in operation at 



.Jamaica, and deserves every encouragement. It is unfor- 

 tunate, however, that the institution has suftered considerably 

 from the depredations of praedial thieves, and it would 

 appear from a letter submitted by the Principal of the 

 Riversdale School to the Secretary of the Jamaica Agricul- 

 cultural tjcwioty that if the practice is continued the 

 authorities may probably be obliged to close the school, and 

 cease their work. 



The following is quoted from the letter referred 

 to :— 



' • . . In all ojir schools throughout the world each 

 student is required to spend a portion of every day at labour 

 as a portion of his education. For this labour the student 

 is not jiaid, but [loor students are allowed to labour more 

 tiian the :illottcd time, in order to lessen their expenses. 



' We liave o]dy been on the [dace about eighteen months,, 

 but we are already confronted with a very serious situation. 

 We hnd in the West Indies many worthy young people who 

 need the practical training given by our schools, but who are 

 unable to pay for it. We have now, in addition to those, 

 some thirty joung people (about cue-third women) who work 

 their entire way. Naturally we planted largely with provisious, 

 not to sell, but to jiroduce food lor our .school family. But 

 before we considered our yams fit to use, thieves entered the 

 tield, and took half a ton. This lias continued until we have 

 lost about a ton of yams, despite the fact that we have kept 

 two young men watching our field at night for several weeks. 

 Before our ground cocoes were more than half-grown, thieves 

 took over 2 cwt. at their first visit. It is not so easy to teli 

 what the loss of other crops has been. Fowls have also, 

 been stolen. 



' I spent o\'er five years in school work in Australia, and 

 about ten years in America, but have never previotisly con- 

 fronted such a condition of affairs.' 



A ropy of this letter was sent to the Government 

 bv the A'licultutal Soeietv. 



SALE OF MILK AT TRINIDAD, 



A Public Health Unlmance lately issued at 

 Trinidad, contains a section designed with the object of 

 ensuring the i)rovision of , a pure milk supply for the 

 city of Pon-ol-Spain. Under this Ordinance the local 

 authority is authoi'ised to make bye-laws in conne.xioii 

 with the sale of miik for the following purposes : — 



(1) The Cegistration of all cow keepers and dairymen^ 

 and all places where cows are kept. 



(2) The inspection of 



dairie 



l)astures, and other 



places where cows are kept : and the enforcement of such 

 conditions as to I'leanliness, ibainage, etc., as may be 

 found necessafy. 



(.")) The prescribing of places for milking of cow.s, and 

 the means for preventing contamination of the milk, or 

 vessels used for milking ; and 



(i) The licensing of all cow keepers and dairymen ; and 

 the issue of badges to be worn by all milk vendors or 

 deliverymen. 



In view of the degree to which consumers in 

 I'ort-of-Sprtin have in the p;vst suffered- from milk 

 adulteration, this section of Oi-dinarice shoidd meet 

 with public approval. 



