Vol. XIII No. 309. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



79 



ized for about forty minutes after the temperature reaches 

 100°C. (■2I2°F.). The thermometer should be placed in the 

 soil midway between the pipes. 



'If it is impracticable or impossible to sterilize with 

 steam, it may be done by the use of a formaldehyde solution, 

 1 pint of formaldehyde (40 per cent.) to 24 gallons of water. 

 Formaldehyde is cheap and can be purchased at almost any 

 drug store. When the soil is to be treated with a formal- 

 dehyde solution it should be placed in a tight box or other 

 receptacle, and enough of the solution added to soak it 

 thoroughly. The application should be made at least two 

 ■weeks before the soil is to be used, in order to allow the 

 formaldehyde to evaporate. An occasional stirring of the 

 soil will assist in the escape of the gas. Disinfected soil 

 should be carefully protected to prevent infestation before it 

 is used. All instruments used in handling sterilized soil, 

 such as the wagon box, shovels, etc , should be disinfected.' 



A very interesting article appears in the World's Work 

 ^February 1914) entitled 'The Triumph of "tame" rubber', 

 written by Henry C. Pearson, editor of the India Rubber 

 World. It shows how the plantation of cultivated rubber 

 trees has moved the centre of production from Brazil to the 

 Malay States. The question is raised as to whether this 

 concentration of one crop in a limited area of the Tropics 

 may not result in the outbreak of a serious epidemic of 

 disease which will wipe out cultivated Hevea just as intro- 

 duced coffee plants were devastated in Ceylon. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCFS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN TBE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. J. R. Jackson writes on February 4, 1914, as 

 follows: — 



As usual the month of .January opened with a small 

 amount of business owing to the holidays and stock taking, 

 and it was not till the Sth of the month that the drug 

 auctions were resumed, after a full month's interval, at this 

 first auction there was but very little demand for the pro- 

 ducts offered, and prices remained pretty much as they did 

 at the close of the old year, as the month advanced, however, 

 more activity became apparent, and at the close, it may be 

 said there was a decided improvement, both in demand, as 

 well as in the prices generally realized. 



The principal changes in West Indian products have 

 been the lowering of the prices, at the beginning of the 

 month, of kola, nutmegs, and citric acid, the last of which 

 recovered itself towards the end, and mace, nutmegs and 

 lime juice all became firmer. 



(JIXGEK. 



, At the spice auction on the 14th, 03 cases of Calicut 

 ■were offered, and 3-5 cases sold without reserve at 36s 6d. 

 to 37s. &d. for small cut; 800 bags of rough washed Cochin 

 were offered and bought in at 24s-., to 25<. a large number of 

 bales of Formosa were also bought in at 17s., and .50 bags of 

 African at 20s. per cwt. At the last auction on the 27th 

 .out of nearly 800 bags of Calicut offered, 183 were sold at 



23s. per cwt. part wormy, another 20 cases of Calicut wera 

 brought forward and bought in at 42s. 6d. for small cur, 

 while 140 bags of brown Bengal were held at 20s. per cwt. 



NUTMEGS, MACE, PI.MENTO AND .\RR0WRO0T. 



At auction on the 14th nutmegs were in good supply, 

 279 packages of West Indian sold at the following rates: 6l's 

 to 7rs, Id. to 10.i<i. 72's to Si's, Qd. to7d., S3's to 9rs, -5^.7, 

 to 6id; 96's to lOG's 5hd. to 6d., 120's to 128's, 'jd. to ^d.. 

 and 1.50's, o^d. These rates were about fcJ. per lb. dearer 

 than those of the previous month, at the last auction on tha 

 27th, 481 packages of West Indian were offered, and tha 

 whole disposed of at full rates 63's to 66's fetching 9d. ta 

 9ifZ. 70's to 7S's, eid. to lU, 78's to 96's, 5f to 6f/. and 

 9S's to 122's, 5hi. to o^d. Mace was represented at the first, 

 auction on the 14th of the month by 45 packages ot West; 

 Indian all of which were sold at full prices, fair to good palet 

 fetching Is. \0d. to 2s. Id. per t) , fair to good redJiih. 

 Is. 9d. to Is. ]0d., dark red Is. Id. to Is. Sd. and ordinary^ 

 to fair 1.5. to Is. id. At the last auction on the 27th, 

 52 packages of West Indian were brought forward and soli' 

 at rates varying from Id. to '2d. per lb. dearer. At the 

 same auction 60 bags of Pimento were offered and .sold 

 at 2d. to '2ld. per tt). and 58 barrels of St. Vincent arrow- 

 root were otl'ered and bought in at 3|rf. per lb. for good 

 manufacturing. 



It will be seen from the dates of the foregoing notes 

 that the spice auctions, dating from the beginning of tha. 

 new year, are now, and henceforth will be held, ' only 

 fortnightly instead of weekly as heretofore. 



SAESAPARILLA. 



At the first drug auction on January 8, sarsapa- 

 rilla was represented by 14 bales of grey Jamaica and 

 11 bales of Lima-Jamaica. The whole of the former 

 were disposed of at Is 8c?. to Is. \0d per BE». for part coarse 

 to good fibrous. Of the Lima-Jamaica only 5 bales were 

 sold which realized Is. Id. to Is. 8d. per lb. for coarse and 

 part chumpy. A fortnight later, namely, on the 22ad, 

 there was no grey Jamaica brought forward, the ofieringa 

 consisting of 10 bales each of Lima- Jamaica and nativQ 

 Jamaica, none of the former was sold, being firmly held at 

 Is. dd., an ofter of Is. Sd. being refused. The whole of tha 

 native Jamaica found buyers at 10|c?. to 1 IJd. for dullish 

 to fair red, 9|f?. for dull yellow and fair red, and C)d. to "id. 

 for sea damaged. 



KOI.A, LIME .tl'ICE, LIME OIL, CITRIC .iCID AND TAMARINDS. 



At the first auction on January 8, kola was ia 

 abundant supply, 139 packages being ofi'ered and only 5S 

 sold, amongst them being 13 bags of West Indian which 

 realized 2|rf. to 2^c?. per R. for darkish to fair, principally 

 in halves. Some 45 bags of good bright Ceylon also ia 

 halves brought 3d. per B). Lime juice has been in fair 

 demand during the month, fair pale raw West Indian being 

 sold at Is. 3d to Is. id. per gallon. Of lime oil 10 casea 

 were offered at the beginning of the month and 4 disposed 

 of. Hand pressed Dominica fetching 8s. 3c?. and Wesi; 

 Indian distilled Is. 8c?. per tt. The month began with a very 

 limited demand for citric acid. Is. llfrf. per lb. being tha 

 price quoted and at the end of the month there was a slight 

 advance. At the first auction on the 8th, tamarinds were ia 

 good supply, 32 packages being offered but 12 only found 

 buyers at 12s per cwt. for fair dry Montserrat, in bond. Oa 

 the 22nd lO barrels of fair bright Barbados and 20 barrels 

 of East Indian were offered, the former were limited at 18s. 

 in bond and the latter at 15s. Qd. per cwt. 



