Vol. IX. No. 213. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



207 



mango, sapodilla, bamboo, pois doux (/»•/(( (■mrina), immor- 

 tel, and other shade trees. 



EEMEDIAL MEASURES. — All dead leaves and twigs should 

 be carefully removed by pruning, and burnt. If burning is 

 impracticable for any reason, they should be very deeply 

 buried with plenty of lime, in case the fungus is a ground 

 saprophyte. The harder parts of trees showing the threads 

 should be carefully washed with lime-sulphur wash, the 

 fungicide being rubbed into the threads with a brush. If 

 this involves too great an outlay, severe pruning might be 

 resorted to, care being taken to determine that there are no 

 threads on the main trunk. All neighbouring forest trees 

 should be carefully examined for thread blight, as they might 

 easily prove a source of infection. 



It should be remembered that the disease may become 

 serious if neglected, but can easily be kept in check if proper 

 attention is given to it. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



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

 following report on the London drug and spice market, 

 for the month of May : — 



The calamity that has befallen the nation by the unex- 

 pected death of King lOdward VII has naturally had the effect 

 of causing a complete stagnation in social and commercial 

 movements, the nation being plunged Tiot only into outward 

 mourning but inward grief. Immediately the' news became 

 known, bnsiness at the principal conimenial centres «as at 

 once suspended, and even at the time of writing, the etl'ect 

 of the shock has scarcely worn off. 



In the drug and spice markets what business has been 

 conducted has been on a limited scale, and quite of a normal 

 character. 



In individual articles, cocaine has been almost entirely 

 neglected, while vanilla has fallen M. in the lb., and rubber 

 has dropped about 2.<. per lb. 



lilNOER. 



The sales during the month have been slow. At the 

 •first auction on the 4th, the offerings of Jamaica amounted to 

 2:5.5 packages, all of which were bought in i.t from ol.v. to 6I.<. 

 for ordinary small dark to good middling; 264 packages of 

 Cochin and Calicut were al.so brought forward, but found no 

 buyers, 52s. being the price wanted for fair rough washed. 

 At the auction on the 2-5th of the month, Jamaica was repre- 

 sented by 239 barrels, a few only finding purchasers at the 

 following rates: <oo». for fair bright, C3.i. for good middling 

 and 53>-. for good ordinary. A large quantity of Cochin and 

 (.'alicut was offered at this sale, and all was bought in at 60.«. 

 for Calicut, 55s. for bright washed; 52s. 6(/. for cuttings, and 

 48s. to 52s. 6rf. for rough wa.shed Cochin. 



NUT.MEGS, MACE AND PIMENTO.. 



At the first spice sale on the 4th, slightly advanced 

 prices were obtained for nutmegs over previous rates, to the 

 extent of Is. \d. per lb. for small and medium, and 1.?. 2rf. to 

 \d. for the larger sizes. A week later, tiiin prices ruled, and 

 220 packages of West Indian were sold. Mace was disposed 

 of at the first auction in the month at an advance of Is. Id. 



to 1</. per Bj. for West Indian, 30 packages being sold at from 

 Is. 9rf. to Is. lOrf. for palish, 1«. M. to Is. M. for pale and 

 reddi.sh, fair red fetching l.s-. 1,1. to Is. SJ. per lb. A week 

 later, 72 packages of West Indian were disposed of at Is. Wd. 

 for good pale, Is. Xd. to Is. M for fair, Is. 7d to Is. M. 

 for dark red to fair red, and is. M. to Is 6d per ft. for 

 broken. The offerings of pimento at the beginning of the 

 month amounted to 202 bags, of which only a few were 

 disposed of at 2^^. to 2]c/.; at the end of the month there was 

 but little or no change, and a slow demand. Arrowroot has 

 been in slow demand during the month. At the first spice 

 auction, out of 420 barrels of St. Vincent offered, only 45 were 

 sold, at •2d. per ft. for fair manufacturing. At the same 

 sale 10 half-barrels of Bermuda were offered and bought in 

 at Is. per ft. 



SARSAPARILLA. 



At the first drug auction on May 5, sarsaparilla 

 was represented by 35 bales of Lima-.Jamaica, 21 of which 

 were sold at Is. \d. per ft. for fair, and \Qd. to lOirf. for 

 rough and chumpy. Of native Jamaica, 26 bales" were 

 brought forward and 7 sold at lOrf. to IQ'ld. for dull to fair 

 red Thirty-eight bales of Guatemala, Mexican character, 

 were bought in at 9,},d. per ft. Four bales of Honduras were 

 also offered and bought in. Genuine Grey Jamaica has been 

 scarce throughout the month, though information was cur- 

 rent that consignments would arrive in time for the first 

 auction in June. 



TAMAEIND.S AND LIME .lUICE. 



AVith regard to tamarinds, a firm tone prevailed at the 

 beginning of the month; 124 packages were offered, 64 only 

 being disposed of, namely, 44 from Antigua realized 12.<. per 

 cwt. for fair pale, in bond, and 20 of fair pale Barbados sold 

 at from 14.s. to 14.s. &d., also in bond. East Indian black 

 were bought in at 12<. 6(1 per cwt. In the middle of the 

 month it was stated that no concentrated West Indian lime 

 Juice was to be had, but at the close there had been some 

 arrivals but only on a very small scale, the nominal value 

 being quoted at about £18 lO.--. There was a quiet but 

 steady trade in West Indian raw lime juice at prices from 

 lie?, to Is. 1(7. per gallon. 



TO PREVENT BEES FROM SWARMING. 



The ■lournal of the Jamaica Ai/ricultural Society for 

 April 1910 gives hints as to the way in which bees may be 

 prevented from swarming. The method is to visit every 

 hive and remove two frames of the sealed brood, substituting 

 two frames of foundation, being careful at the same time to 

 leave the queen in the brood nest. This iis, of course, tak- 

 ing for granted that, after the first extraction was made, all 

 solid frames of honey were removed and brood combs were 

 given in exchange, in the centre. The brood removed may 

 lie used for making increa.se, or if this not desired, a super 

 may be placed on the top, .so that an increase will have been 

 gained from this brood when it hatches out. Such a jilan 

 will prevent increase being made too late in the season, with 

 the consequent loss, and the extra work of feeding, in order 

 to prevent desertion. 



The use of .swarming cells is not advised, as this tends 

 to cause the bees to swarm all the more. The giving of 

 room in the day that has just been stated is said to be the 

 best means of avoiding the evils of swarming. 



