ToL. VIII. Xo. 189. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



239- 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Druses and Spices on the London Market. 



The following report on the London drug and 

 spice markets for the month of June has been furnished 

 by i\Ir. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S. : — 



The general conditions of the spice and drug markets 

 during the month of June, show a decided iinprovement, 

 which commenced with the month and was fairly maintained 

 to the end. In no one jjarticular product, however, was 

 there anything calling for special note as will be seen from 

 the following items. 



As there were no auctions Iield in tlie first week of the 

 month in consequence of the Whitsuntide holidays, it was not 

 till the 9th that the first sale took place, at which Jamaica 

 ginger was offered to the extent of 1,650 packages ; and 

 300 were disposed of at the following rates : GO.f. to 62.s. for 

 fair bright, SG-v. to 59«. Gd. for middling to good middling, and 

 oOs. to 55.V. for ordinary to good ordinary. At the .same 

 auction, all other kinds offered were bought in at the follow- 

 ing prices : unsorted native Calicut, oQ.i. to 60s.; brown 

 rough Calicut, iOs.\ rough, 37.s-., and Japanese limed, 32,s-. 

 A week later, the market wa.s exceedingly c[uiet, the whole of 

 the offerings of Jamaica, consisting of 384 package.s, were 

 bought in, and of 585 packages of Cochin and Calicut brought 

 for work, only 36 were sold, washed rough Cochin fetching 

 41s. Brown rough Calicut was bought in at 40s. Again on 

 the 23rd, the same quiet tone prevailed, imly 40 packages of 

 Jamaica, out of 500 offered, found buyers at from 59s. to 64s. 

 for middling to good middling, and 52s. for good ordinary 

 small. Seventy bags of Japan were brought forward at this 

 sale, 20 of which sold at 27s. 6d. for limed wormy. ( )n the last 

 day of the month ginger of all kinds was represented in the 

 catalogues, some of which, liowever, were not brought for- 

 ward, amongst them being 64 packages of .lamaica. It was 

 stated that private sales had been effected for good fine, at 

 from 58s. to 62s., (_'ochin fetching 39s. to 41^-. for washed 

 rough. 



MACE AMI I'l.MKNTd. 



(Jn June 9 there was a steady demand for AVest 

 Indian mace, the prices ranging from l.v. 6(7. to Is. Td. 

 for ordinary to fair, and Is. 3d. to Is. 5d. for broken. A 

 few cases of good Java were bought in at 2s. A week later, 

 out of an offering of 28 packages of AVest Indian, 25 were 

 .sold, fair pale realizing Is. 9/1., pale and reddish Is. 7d. to 

 Is. Sd., and fair to good red Is. (id. to Is. ftd. On the 23rd, 

 16 packages of West Indian were offered, and disposed 

 of at similar rates. At the auction on the 16th, pimento 

 was repre.sented by 117 bags, 55 of which were disposed of 

 ■at 2-}rf. for fair, and ^2j^d. for ordinary mixed. On the 23rd, 

 the offerings amounted to only 1 6 bags, which were all bought 

 in at 2|-(Z. for small. At the last auction on the 3()th, 68 

 bags were catalogued, but none were offered. 



AiaiowuooT. 



There has been a very quiet market in this article. At 

 the auction on the 30th, 1 20 barrels of fair manufacturing 

 St. Vincent were brought forward, and bought in at 2'/. 

 per R. 



SAESAI'AKILT-A. 



At the drug auction on the 17th, sarsaparilla was repre- 

 sented by 41 packages of native Jamaica, 10 of Lima- Jamaica, 



21 of ^lexican, and 13 of Honduras, but there was no grey 

 Jamaica. The whole of the 10 bags of Lima-Jamaica was 

 sold, fair fetching l.s. 1(7., and rather lumpy Is. Fair red 

 native .Jamaica realized Is. to Is. Id., while 10t7. to lid. was 

 paid for ordinary greyisli to clull-red and yellow mixed, and 

 9(7. to 9ic7. for common dull-red. Xone of the Mexican nor 

 Honduras found buyers. 



KOLA, TAJIARINDS, i^ASSIA FISTULA, ETC. 



In the middle of the month, 2 bags of dull Jamaica 

 kola, part wormy, was sold at lid. per lb. Eighteen bags of 

 ordinary dark Ceylon fetched If (7. per tt>., and for 6 bags of 

 dull mouldy Ceylon 2-J(?. per lb. was paicL At the last sale 

 on the 30th, 1 bag of green, part mouldy Jamaica realized 

 2|(7. per lb., and 1 of fair dried Jamaica fetched 1-^(7. per ft. 

 At this same sale, out of 24 packages of Cassia Fistula 

 offered, 13 were sold at from 16s. to 17s. percwt. for fair 

 Dominican. On the 16th, 5 packages of fair West Indian 

 tamarinds in bond w-ere sold at from 8s. to 9s. 6(/. per cwt. 

 Fair East Indian black were bought in at r2s. 6((. per cwt. 

 On the 30th, 52 packages of dry Antigua in bond were 

 offered, 42 of which sold at 10<. per cwt. 



SPONGE FISHERIES IN THE 

 PHILIPPINES. 



We gather from the latest Anaaal Report 

 (August 1908) ('/' th.r Director of the Bureau of 

 Science, Manila, that sponge fisheries which will 

 prove to be of considerable value commercially have 

 been located during the past year, The first shipment 

 from the Sitkani sponge bank arrived in Zamboanga on 

 June o, and will be shipped to Singapore. These 

 sponges are said to be of fine, soft texture, very tough 

 and elastic. They compare very favourably with the 

 best grade of the Florida ' sheep's wool sponge ', and 

 doubtless a good price will be realized for them. 

 Twenty thousand sjjonges have been taken at Sitkani. 



The following information in connexion with the 

 curing of sponges and the laws proposed for the 

 regulation of sponge fisheries may be of interest : — • 



AVhen in the water the conunercial sponge is black and 

 slimy, growing in a depth of from 30 centimetres to 30 

 metres, or more. The sponge is taken up either with the 

 hands, or with a hook on the end of a pole. It is then placed 

 on shore or on a platform in the sun for a day or two, until 

 dead. Afterwards it is placed in an enclosure built on the 

 edge of the salt water and allowed to remain for eight or ten 

 days, a man going over the sponges each day, or as often as 

 is necessary, squeezing them out and beating out pieces of 

 shell or coral. They are then threaded on strings and 

 allowed to dry. This is the usual bleaching process. They 

 may also be bleached by di[iping them in .soap-suds two or 

 three times and placing them in the sun. t Jiemicals are also 

 used, but they cause more or less damage to the fibre. 



On account of the custom of taking even the very 

 youngest sponges, prompt regulation of the sponge fisheries 

 is urgently needed. A law shoirld be enacted pnJiibiting the 

 taking of sponges which measure less than 10 centimetres 

 through their least diameter, at the centre. If all inshore 

 sponge grounds were declared Government property, which 

 may be leased for a long period, it would cause every collector 

 to take care of the ground rented by him, and to allow the 

 sponges to grow to full size, so that he may gain a profit 

 compatible with his holding the grotind under a long lea.se. 



