Vol. XIII. No. 317. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



207 



RICE. 



The Physiology of Germination.— The 



Montldy Jiidletiii oj Agricnltural Intelligence and Plaut 

 Diseases (April 1914), states that during a series of years the 

 conditioDS of germination of rice have been studied, and the 

 results hitherto obtained are summarized as follows: the 

 maximum, optimum, and minimum temperatures for the ger- 

 mination of rice are 40°C., 30' to 3-5°C., and 10° to 13°C., 

 respectively. From the practical point of view it is impor- 

 tant to know, that the development of strong seedlings is 

 favoured by warm irrigation water; light exerts no influence 

 on tlie germination of rice; the same holds true for light of 

 varying refraction; rice germinates equally well both in 

 water and in air, when the grains are husked or unhusked, 

 and when the grains are treated with water which contains 

 oxygen or which has been deprived of it by boiling; the 

 plumule appears sooner if the griin is placed in favourable 

 moisture conditions than in water; the radicles and crown 

 roots develop considerably sooner in the air than in water; 

 the stem grows much more rapidly in water than in the air. 

 The opposite is the case with the radicles and crown roots; 

 the frequent renewal of the water in the experiment had no 

 sensible effect upon the development of the stem or 

 roots; the same holds true for differences in the depth of 

 •water, provided they keep within the limits of 3 to 20 cm. 

 (r2 to 8 inches); the suitable degree of moisture for the 

 germination of rice is GO to 9-5 per cent, by weight of the 

 seedbed's capacity for water; rice grains are saturated by an 

 amount of water equal to about "25 to 30 per cent, of their 

 air-dry weight; rice grains cannot be made to germinate until 

 they have absorbed about 2.5 per cent, of their air-dry weight 

 of water; the loss of weight of the uiihuUed grains during 

 steeping amounts to only 15 per cent, of their weight, even 

 after twenty days, if the temperature is 10° to 15°C. (50° ta 

 .59°F.). 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S., ha? forwarded the 

 ■following reporb on the London drug and spice markets 

 for the month of April: — 



The period under review covers five weeks namely, from 

 April 1 to 30, both inclusive. During the first three 

 -weeks there was very little activity in the markets which, 

 however, improved towards the end as the following notes 

 ■will show. 



(ilMJER. 



At the first spice auction on the 1st of the month the 

 olTerings amounted to 6-14 bags of Cochin, new crop, 350 of 

 which were sold, fair bright washed rough fetching 26s. per 

 cwt., 50 bags of limed Japanese were also offered and bought 

 in at 24s. Privately, it was stated that the quotations for 

 Jamaica were 37s. to 38s. for common, and 45s. to 50s. for 

 medium to good. A fortnight later the offerings amounted 

 to 253 bags of Jamaica and 80 bags of Cochin, a part of each 



was sold, the former at 36,?. to 47s. an! the latter at 21s, foir 

 wormy, washed, rough. 



NtJTMEGS AND .MACE. 



At the spice auction on the 1st of the month nutmegs 

 were represented by 256 packages of West Indian, tha 

 bulk of which were sold at the following rate.?: 59's lid., 65'3 

 to VS's, 6R to 2d., 77's to86's 5id to 6d, 90'sto lOO's 4|(Z. 

 to 5^0?., lOl's to Ill's 4W. to old., 130's 4^^ A fortnight 

 later namely on the 22nd, 109 packages of West Indian wera 

 brought forward and sold at slightly varying rates. Maca 

 was in good supply at each of these auctions, at the first Si 

 packages of West Indian were disposed of at Is. M to 2s. id. 

 and broken at Is. Id. and at the second 34 packages at Is. 9i.' 

 to 2s. 2(7 and broken at 1.?. id. to Is. 8d. per !b. Four cases 

 of Java red were also sold at Is. lOd. per fti. 



SAESAPAEILLA. 



At the first drug auction on the 2nd of the month 

 Sarsaparilla was in steady demand, and was represented by 

 13 bales of grey .Jamaica, 20 of Lima-Jamaica and 7 of 

 native Jamaica; of the former 12 bales were disposed of at 

 Is. lO'i. to 2s. per ft. being neirly one penny per Bb. advance 

 on previous rates. Six bales only were sold of the Lima. 

 Jamaica which realized Is. 8d. per ft. Six bales also of tha 

 native Jamaica were also sold at Is. 2d. for good red and Is. 

 to Is Id. for dullish to fair red. At the last auction on tha 

 30tb there was a very full supply, amounting to 47 bales 

 of grey Jamaica, 42 of Lima- Jamaica and 23 of native 

 •Jamaica; 43 bales of the first were disposed of at Is. lOd. to 

 Is. llrf. for fair to good grey, and l.s. 9d. for part rather 

 coarse. Seven bales only of the Lima-Jamaica found buyers^ 

 Is. Qd. being paid for fair. The whole of the nitiva 

 Jamaica was disposed of, Is. 3d. lieing paid for good red^ 

 is. Id. for fair, and lid. to Is. for dull yellow and red mixed. 



CITRIC ACID, LI.ME OIL,LI.ME JUICE, CASSIA FISTULA AND KOLA.I 



Of citric acid, the month started without any supplies^ 

 and consequently only a retail trade was done at 2s. 3d. per ft. 

 As the month advanced occasional small sales were reportect 

 at 2s. 3W. per ft., at which figure it stood at the close. At 

 auction at the beginning of the month, lime oil was repre- 

 sented by 8 cases of West Indian distilled, 4 of which sold 

 at 2s. per ft. The quotation for hand pressed was 9s. 6c?. 

 per ft. A fortnight later 2s. 3d. was demanded for distilled, 

 and at the close 2s. id. had been paid, but as much as 

 2s. 9d. was asked, while hand pressed had gone up to 2s. 6d. 

 On the 30th at auction, 16 cases of West Indian distilled 

 were otfered, and 3 only disposed of at from 2s. id. to 

 25-. 5d. per ft. Lime juice has been inactive, fair West 

 Indian averaging Is. 6d. per gallon, and good to fine l.s. 8d. 

 to 1 s. 10(7. Cassia Fistula was represented at auction oi» 

 the 2nd of the month by 10 baskets of fair sound pods, all 

 of which were disposed of at 15s. per cwt. Later in the 

 month the article was reported to be scarce, but on the 30th, 

 27 packages were brought forward, 7 only of which 

 were disposed of at 18s. per cwt. for fair Dominican. For 

 kola there was a fair demand in the early part of the month, 

 which somewhat declined towards the close. At the first 

 auction on the 2nd of the month the offerings amounted to 

 50 bags of Java, and one bag of West Indian. The former 

 sold at 2jc?. per ft. for fair, part dark, and HA per ft. for 

 part wormy and pickings. The single bag consisted of fair 

 West Indian halves, and realized 3^(1 per ft. At the last 

 sale on the 30th, 7 bags were offered and only one dis* 

 posed of at 2^d. for dull halves and whole nuts. 



