Vol. IX. No. 207. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ill 



hyphae from which it was produced. This group mostly 

 contains saprophytes, in the cohort Mucorineae, but the other 

 cohort included in the group, namely the Entomophthorineae, 

 comprises several species of fungi of considerable usefulness 

 from an economic point of view, as they are parasitic on 

 several different insects, and under favourable conditions can 

 keep them well in check. The same is probably true of one 

 or two species of the genus Minor, though these are not so 

 numerous, or of so much use, as the species of Einpusa and 

 Entoiiioplithord, in the group Entomophthorineae. 



It may be of interest in passing to note that the charac- 

 ters, on which the families contained in tlie cohorts mentioned, 

 are separated from one another, are mainly nuidifications in 

 the appearance of the sexual organs, taken in connexion with 

 the form of the asexual fructifications, such as the amount of 

 branching of the conidiophores, the shape of the conidia, the 

 presence or absence of a columella in the Mucorineae, and simi- 

 lar characters. The species in the various groups are usually 

 separated by much smaller differences, one of the most impor- 

 tant being the size of the conidia, or of the spores, as the case 

 may be. 



This, then, concludes the description of the most primitive 

 group of fungi, the Phycomj'cetes, whose forms show every 

 stage of the development of sexual reproduction, from the 

 conjugation of two similar cells to that of two sexually dis- 

 tinct organs, and also the adaptation of the fungi to a land 

 habit by the suppression of the earlier motile zoospores and the 

 alteration of the zoosporangium into a conidium germinating 

 directly, as is shown in Pln/tojihthora omnii'ora, or in a differ- 

 ent direction, by the alteration of the zoospores into non- 

 motile air-borne spores, which is what would appear to have 

 occurred in the development of the Mucorineae. In the next 

 article, the numerous higher forms of fungi included in the 

 group Ascomycetes will be discussed. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 

 MARKET. 



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

 following report on the London drug and spice market 

 for the month of February : — 



The anticipated improvement in busine.ss in products 

 which find their centre in Mincing Lane, has not been borne 

 out during the month of February. The drug and spice 

 markets have been fairly well supplied, both in rjuantity and 

 variety, without any special attention being given to any 

 individual product. India rubber has attracted the greatest 

 amount of attention in consequence of the enormous advance 

 in price, which at the time of writing is quoted at 9s. lOd. 

 per B). for Fine Malay Plantation Sheet; so many and so 

 varied are the companies now being floated in every part of 

 the world where rubber yielding-plants are found native, or 

 can possibly be made to grow, that the result must end in 

 some failures. 



The following are the details connected with West Indian 

 produce : — 



GINGER. 



At the auction on the 2nd of the month, no off'erings of 

 ginger were made, but it was reported that private sales had 

 been effected at firmer prices, fair washed Cochin realizing 

 46s. and Calicut 47s. 6d., 57s. 6d. being the price quoted for 



native cut. At the following week's auction, on the 9th, 

 ginger again was not offered, but private business was done 

 with Cochin at slightly advanced rates. At the third spice 

 auction on the 16th, there was again no ginger brought 

 forward, but in the concluding week, about 70 packages of 

 Jamaica were offered and all bought in. It was reported 

 that sales had been effected privately in Liverpool, of 70 tons 

 of Sierra Leone, at prices from SS.s. M. to 39s. 



NUTME<;S, MACE AST) PIMENTO. 



At the first spice auction on the 2nd of the month, 

 some 300 packages of West Indian nutmegs were ottered and 

 disposed of at Is. id. to l.s. 2d. per It), lower than previous 

 rates. On the 24th, 30 packages, only, of West Indian were 

 brought forward, part of which was sold at from 3|f/. to 5},d., 

 according to .size and quality. In mace the market opened 

 on the 2nd of the month with a firm tone, when -58 packages 

 of West Indian were disposed of at the following rates T — 

 fair good to palish l.s. Xd. to ]■■<. 9d., and fair red Is. "id. 

 A quantity of good pale Hat Java was offered, and bought 

 in at 2s. 6of., and pale reddish curly at 2s. A week later, 4 

 packages of West Indian were ottered, and sold at slightly 

 advanced prices, Ik. Srf. being paid for fair red. Is. 7(/. for 

 good pickings, and Is. 4d. for broken. Pimento has attract- 

 ed but little attention during the month. At the first spice 

 auction on the second of the month, 34 bags of fair were 

 sold at 2^d., which price remained steady through the rest 

 of the month. 



AKKOWROOT. 



At the first spice auction, arrowroot was represented by 

 231 barrels of St. Vincent, and 10 half barrels of Bermuda. 

 All were bought in, the St. Vincent at 2(/. to 2f rf. per Bb, and 

 the Bermuda at 2s. 2d. per ft. On the 23rd, 100 barrels 

 of good manufacturing St. A'incent were offered and bought 

 in at 2d. per ft. 



SARSAPARILLA. 



At the beginning of the month there was but little 

 demand for this article. At the drug auction on the 10th, 

 some 22 bales of Lima Jamaica were brought forward, the 

 whole of which was bought in at from Is. to Is. Id. per ft., 

 for common rough to fair. Native Jamaica was represented 

 by 2-5 bales, 6 only of which found buyers at from 10c?. to 

 11'/. per ft. for dull yellowi-sh to fair red. For 11 bales of 

 Mixed Guatemala and Mexican, Id. per ft. was offered and 

 refused; 5 bales of Honduras were also ottered and bou"ht 

 in. On the 24th, the ott'erings consisted of 26 bales 

 of grey Jamaica, all of which were disposed of at the follow- 

 ing prices : Is. 2d. to Is. 3d. for fair, part coarse to good 

 fibrous, and Is. Id. for ordinary. Xine bales of native 

 Jamaica were also offered and 7 sold at 10<f. to lid. for fair 

 red. 



AXNATTO, C.^NELLA ALBA, CASSIA FISTULA, OIL OF LIME, ET(J. 



At the beginning of the month, 35 bags of fair bright 

 Ceylon annatto seed found buyers at 2\d. per lb.; 9 casks 

 of Canella alba bark were also brought forward, and 4 

 sold at 42s. 6d. per cwt. A consigment of fair fresh pods of 

 Cassia Fistula from Java wa.s also offered but not sold, 1 4s. 

 being offered and refused; 15s. was the price asked. One box 

 of hand-pressed Dominica Oil of Lime, and 1 of good distilled 

 St. Lucia, were offered at the last sale of the month. The 

 former sold at 5s. per ft., and the latter at Is. 6d. Chillies 

 have been in good demand. At one auction in the middle 

 of the month, 131 bags of Nyasaland were sold at 45s. to 46.'>\ 

 for fair to good bright, 43s. for fair red, and 39s. Qd. to 40s. 

 for mixed. ' . i i 



