Vol. XIII. No. 314. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



159 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S., has forwarded the 

 following report on the London drug and spice markets 

 for the month of March: — 



The general tone of the markets throughout the month 

 of .March has been one of extreme dullness, business being slow 

 in nearly all products. The principal item of interest perhaps 

 has been the firm pesition maintained by citric acid through- 

 out the whole month, and at the close of the month it was 

 reported that it was practically unobtainable. Native Jamaica 

 aarsaparilla also held a firm position at the beginning of the 

 month: white grey .Jamaica waslowfi-. In the second week 

 West Indian mace was firmer, while nutmegs and pimento 

 were both lower. The following are the details affecting the 

 chief West Indian produce: — 



lilNOER. 



At auction of the 11th, the offerings amounted to 

 '218 bags of slightly wormy and dull washed Cochin,- only 

 a few of which were disposed of at 2 Is. 6c?. In conse- 

 quence of the spice auctions being held now only once 

 a fortnight, there has been no further transactions in ginger 

 in the London market, though it was leported that some 

 sales had been etiected in Liverpool, of a small consignment 

 of -Jamaica at from 37s. 6d. to 50s. per cwt. 



NUTMEliS, M.\CE AND PIMENTO. 



At the first sale of the month on the 11th, some 242 

 packages of West Indian nutmegs were offered and sold at 

 the following rates: 63's 9J., 66'3 to 76's M. to 8c?., 78's to 

 85's 5rf. to 5W., 90'8 to lOO's 4|c/. to .5{c?., lOl's to Ill's 

 4^c?.. to 5ld., lli'a to 126's Aid. to .5c?., and 173's bd. per lb. 

 At the same auction, 37 packages of West Indian mace v.ere 

 offered and sold, fair palish fetching 2s. \d. to 2s. 2c;., fair 

 •to good red Is. lOd. to 2s., dark red Is. 8c?., and broken 

 Is. 6(/. to Is. 7c?. per B).: 162 bags of pimento were also 

 otiered at this auction and 117 were disposed of at l{:d. to 

 2c?. per tb., for fair quality. 



SAESAPARILLA. 



At the first drug auction on March 5, sarsaparilla was 

 represented by 29 bales of grey Jamaica, 11 of Lima- Jamaica, 

 and 18 of native Jamaica: 25 bales of the grey Jamaica 

 were sold at Is. 10'?. to Is. lie?, per lb. for fair to good 

 fibrous; the whole of the Lima-Jamaica were also sold at 

 Is. Id. per lb, for fair to part rougliish, and Is. 6c?. for sea- 

 damaged. Ofthe 18 bales of native Jamaica, 14 were sold, 

 fair red fetching Wd. to Is, per R., good red Is. Ic?., and 

 dullish 10c?. At the next auction on the 19th, no grey 

 Jamaica was otiered and only 1 3 bales of Lima- Jamaica and 

 1 of native; none of the former were sold, the whole 13 bales 

 being bought in at is. 8c?. per lb. The single bale of native 

 Jamaica fetched lid. per lb. for dull yellow and red. 



CITRIC ACID, ANNATTOSEED, TAMARINDS, LIME JUICE, LIME OIL, 

 KOLAj CASHEW NUTS. 



At the first auction in the month citric acid was firm at 

 Is. ll^d. to Is. 11 Jc?. per lb., with difficulty in obtaining 

 supplies for prompt deliveiy. A week later, owing to the 

 scarcity, the price quoted was 2s., and still a week later, 

 namely on March 19, it was stated that the stocks being 



exhausted, 2s\ \d. or 2.s. ly. was being paid for April delivery. 

 Quite at the end of the month with no prospect of early 

 supplies, it was said that 2s. 2ic?. had been paid for some 

 small lots. At the first auction on March 5, 16 cases 

 of annatto seed from Ceylon were offered and sold, Ihd. 

 per ft. being paid for ordinary bricky. In the same 

 week 20 barrels of Barbados tamarinds were offered 

 and sold at 17s.; West Indian lime juice was also offered at 

 this auction, but did not meet with a purchaser, being 

 bought in at Is. 9';. for pale-green raw. Towards the end 

 of the month good West Indian distilled lime oil was quoted 

 at Is. 11(?., and hand-pressed at 9s. 6c/,, and at the same 

 auction, 10 bags of dullish dried West Indian kola were 

 offered but not sold, though it was said that a bid of 3 ?. 

 per ft. had been made; some 22 bags of cashew nuts were 

 also brought forward but none sold. 



OIL-NUT DEVELOPMENT IN BRITISH 



HONDURAS. 



The Oil-nut Development and Trading Company, 

 Limited, has been formed principally for the purpose of the 

 development of the oil-nut industry and the cultivation of, 

 and dealing in, oil-yielding nuts of all descriptions, and has 

 entered into a contract to acquire a freehold property, 

 situate in the Colony of British Honduras, the total area of 

 which is about 20,000 acres. The title is registered in the 

 Land Registry of British Honduras. The property is situated 

 about 32 miles south of Belize the capital of British Hon- 

 duras and about G mibs from the coast, the nearest port (about 

 7 miles) being reached by the Government Railway, which 

 runs right through the estate ^about 4 miles.) There is also 

 a private railway from the estate to the coast town of Stann 

 Creek, which line is part of the property to be acquired. 

 There are about 6,000 acres of the estate on which thecohoun 

 palms (a species of wild coco-nut, Attalea cohiuid) abound. 

 These palms yield a nut the kernel of which contains according 

 to a recent analysis by the Imperial Institute authorities, 72 

 per cent, of cjil. These nuts have not hitherto been commer- 

 cially dealt with, owing to the thickness and hardness 

 of the shell, but a cracking machine has now been 

 designed and manufactured for this purpose, capable of 

 dealing with 20 tons of nuts per day. It is intended to 

 instal eight of these machines, at a cost of £200 each, with 

 the necessary power plant, as rapidly as possible. This is 

 estimated to be sufficient to cope with the total output of 

 the estate. This cost of collecting and cracking the nuts 

 and preparing the kernels for shipment, freight and insurance 

 is estimated at £14 10s. per ton, or £90,000, which leaves 

 a profit on the above-mentioned quantity of over £60,000. 

 The vendors have entered into a contract for the sale to 

 Messrs. J. Bibby &, Sons, oil refiners, of Liverpool, of the 

 entire output of cahoun nut kernels for one year from 

 May 1, 1914, with the option to the buyers of continuing 

 on the same terms for the years 1915-16 and 1916-17, The 

 company obtains the benefit of this contract. The capital 

 is £100,000, in £1 shares, of which 75,000 are now offered 

 for subscription at par. The list opens to-day. {Finan- 

 cier and B)dlionist, April 8, 1914). 



In the review of the Antigua Botanic Station Report in 

 this journal. Vol. XIII, p. 87, reference was wrongly made to 

 the irrigation of coco-nut land with salt water. It should 

 have been the drainage of coast land affected by salt water. 



