Vol. IX. No. 205. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



79 



Nearly all the groups of fungi also produce another type 

 of spore: this is usually formed by means of a sexual process, 

 and is especially adapted for tiding over unfavourable circum- 

 stances; that is, its main jiurpose is to ensure the continuation 

 of the species in time. With this end in view, it is usually 

 suppliicl with a thick outer skin, often covered with ridges 

 or spines, and with a reserve supply of food in the form of 

 starch, sugar, or, more frequently, oil. As the fungi (like 

 other plants) have developed during the course of ages, the 

 special apparatus for the production and protection of these 

 spores has become more and more complex, j)artly, no doubt, 

 owing to the many changes in external conditions to which 

 they hi»ve been subjected; at the same time, the sexual process 

 by which the spores were formed has become simplified, and in 

 some instances, appears to have died out altogether. Never- 

 theless, the characters of these spores, and the complexity of 

 the organs formed for their production and protection when 

 young, are the principal characters upon which the fungi are 

 classified. For whereas the asexual spores are mure generally 

 borne on exposed portions of the mycelium, without any 

 protection, the .sexual spores in the higher groups are always 

 borne on, or in, some special form of organ which protects them 

 when young. The full meaning of this will, it is hoped, 

 become clearer in the light of the articles which are to follow. 



XUT.MEiiS, MACE AXD PIMENTO. 



At the first auction. West Indian nutmegs, to the extent 

 of 4-2S packages, were ottered, about 400 of which, of inferior 

 quality, were disposed of at a decline of Is. id. to Is. %L per 

 lb. on previous rates. The supply of good sound nuts was 

 stated to be small. At the same sale 5.3 packages of West 

 Indian mace realized from l.s. Id. to Is. M. per K). for fair 

 palish to pale, fair to good reddish fetching Is. Qd. to l.s. Id., 

 and broken Is. M. to Is. id. On the 25th the demand was 

 very limited with lower prices, namely West Indian red 

 Is. Id., and broken Is. 2./. to Is. 3-/. In pimento there has 

 been very little doing during the month. At the auction on 

 the 12th, s:i bags were offered and the whole of it bought in 

 at i\d. per lb. Again, on the 25th, the whole of the offer- 

 ings, amounting to 44 hags, were bought in at the previous 

 rates. 



SAKS.\P.\RU,LA. 



. At the first drug auction on the 13th, sarsaparilla was 

 ill good supply, the otl'erings amounting to 45 bales of grey 

 •Jamaica, 15 bales of native Jamaica, 62 bales of Guatemala, 

 13 bales of Honduras, and H of Mexican. The whole of the 

 grey .Jamaica were sold at the following rates: good fibrous 

 Is. 2'i., fair is. 1//., conimon rough \s. Five bales of native 

 .Jamaica sold at \\d. per lb. for fair red, while 8 other 

 bales were bdught in at Is. Common churapy Mexican was 

 bought in at id. to 4'/^. per lb., while another lot of Mexican 

 in rolls, and freed from chumps, fetched l\d. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 'anella alr.v, <;.\.s.sia fistul.-v, lime juice, tamarinds, etc. 



MARKET. *-*f Cauella bark, it is sUted that good quality continues 



,, (TTi iTQU f jj^u .scarce, but that J: rices vary from 59.S-. to 00s. per cwt. Some 55 



Mr. J. L. Jackson, A.L..S., has forwarded the packages of ( 'a-ssia Fistula arrived from Hamburg at the end 



of the month, but not in time t>i be included in this month's 

 report. Concentrated West Indian lime juice was rejiorted, 

 at the beginning of the month, as firm at £18 5s. At the 

 same period some small sales of Antigua tamarinds were 

 made at 12s. Crf. per cwt., and for Barbados 16.s-. was the price 

 asked. In the middle of the month, fair West Indian kola 

 realized 2irf. to 3rf. per It), for 1 1 bags, and for 3 bags of fair 

 bright halves 2W. per tt). was paid, and \ld. per ft. for 

 small dark and part mouldy. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



following report on the London drug and spice market 

 for the month of January : — 



The beginning of the new year, like the close of the old 

 one, always brings with it a disruption of business in the 

 produce markets generally, and the commencement of the 

 present year h is been no exception to the rule, but, on the 

 contrary, besides the ordinary extension of the holidays into 

 the first week in January, and the annual stock taking opera- 

 tions, the Parliamentary elections have absorbed a good part 

 of the month, with the inevitable result of the disorganization 

 of busin(>ss generally. Xotwithstamling all this, there has 

 been a steady under-current of increasing trade, which it is 

 hojied may be maintained. The only products that have 

 received special attention during the month are glycerine 

 and Buchu, the former of which is advancing by leaps and 

 bounds, and the latter, not only being very scarce, but having 

 risen steadily in price from ~ihd. to \Qd. per lb. early in the 

 jiast year, and Is. dd. to 2s. at its close. Nothing, however, 

 has occurred of any sjjecial note in connexion with West 

 Indian products, as the following details will show: — . 



GINGEP.. 



At the first spice sale on the 5th there were no offerings 

 of Jamaica, but about 500 packages of Cochin and Calicut, 

 partly conipri-sed of unsorted native cut, were brought forward 

 and bought in at 53s. to 55s. per cwt. Washed rough Cochin 

 and rough brown Calicut ^ere also offered and bought in, 

 the first at 43s. and the second at 42.<. Some 200 bags of 

 fair limed Japanese were sold without reserve, at 38s. Qd. 

 per cwt. In the following week no ginger of any kind was 

 brought forward, but on the 25th, 44s. per cwt. was paid for 

 300 bags of washed Cochin, while rough Calicut fetched 48s., 

 and native cut 56.?. M. Japanese realized 40.s. 



Rice in British Guiana. 



The last fortnightly report of Messrs. Sandbach, 

 Parker & Co., of Georgetown, on the rice industry of 

 British Guiana, dated Febru.ary 18, 1910, gives informa- 

 tion as follows : — 



Since our last advices, dated 4th inst, the weather has 

 continued unfavourable to milling operations, and deliveries 

 to town have been delayed. 



E.vports have been large (4,695 bags) but prices are only 

 moderately firm; stocks of paddy are considerably reduced, 

 and once the growers have disposed of surplus stock, higher 

 prices must ensue. 



In the meantime, quotations are as last advised, with 

 a firm tone. 



We quote to-day, f.o.b. Demerara, for good export 

 quality : — 



Nominally 16s. 9d. to 17s. 9(i. per bag of 180 fc. gross, 

 15s. 9t«. to 16s. M. „ „ „ 164 ft. „ 



