Vol. IX. No. 215. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



239 



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 June : — 



On the general condition of the drug and spice markets 

 during the month of June, the only remark to be made is that 

 they have been purely normal, which is the usual state of 

 things at the close of the half-year, with the accompaniment 

 of stock-taking, followed by the beginning of the summer 

 holiday season, until the close of which, little or no change 

 may be expected. Buchu leaves and rubber still attract much 

 attention, and demand high prices, but no special interest has 

 been shown in any West Indian product. 



GINGIR. 



Somewhat lower prices have prevailed, and a declining 

 demand. At the first spice auction on the 8th of the month, 

 the offerings were as follows; 363 packages of Jamaica, 300 

 of Cochin and 384 of limed Japan. The whole of the Jamaica 

 consignment was bought in at from .54s. to 63s. for good 

 ordinary and middling. Washed rough Cochin was bought 

 in at from 48s. to 52s. 6d., while 300 bags of the limed Japan 

 were sold without reserve at from 37.s. Gd. to 3S»-. per cwt. 

 On the 22nd, some 700 barrels and bags of ginger were 

 brought forward, very few of which sold, and those at lower 

 rates, varying from bOx. to 51s. for common dark, and 54s. to 

 56s. for good common; 45s. was ths reserve price for fair 

 limed Calicut, and 52s. for small and medium bright washed 

 Cochin. 



NUTMECS .\ND MACE. 



Steady rates have been maintained throughout the 

 month in the case of nutmegs. At the spice auction on the 

 15th, 309 packages of West Indian were sold, out of a total 

 ■of 329 offered At the same auction, 58 packages of West 

 Indian mace found buyers at the following rates: Is. 8c?. to 

 Is. lOrf. for palish and pale, Is. 7c?. to Is. Sd. for jjale and 

 reddish, and Is. Gd. to Is. 8c?. for pale broken. Ordinary 

 broken realized Is. 4c?. per ft). On the 29th of the month, 

 27 packages of West Indian were sold, fair palish fetching 

 Is. 9c?., and good pale Is. 11c?. per tt). 



ARROWROOT. 



At the auction on June 1, 42 barrels of St. Vincent 

 arrowroot, ordinary manufacturing, sold at l^d. per lb. 

 A week later, as many as 718 packages St. Vincent were 

 offered, and all bought in at from 2c?. to 2|rf. per lb. for fair 

 to good manufacturing. 



SARSAPARILLA. 



At the drug auction on the 2nd, Grey Jamaica was 

 represented by 33 bales, all of which were sold at the follow- 

 ing rates ; for fair, slightly roughish. Is. 2d. to Is. 3d. per 

 ft)., and damaged Is. Id. Twenty -six bales of native Jamaica 

 were also disposed of, fair red fetching 11'? to llic?., dull red 

 lOd., and S^d. to 9c?. for mixed common dull and yellow; 33 

 Isales of Lima-Jamaica, were offered, most of which were dis- 

 po.sed of at from 10c?. to lit?, per lb. At the auction on the 

 16th, 7 bales only, of Grey Jamaica were offered, all of which 

 met with a ready sale, fair sound fetching Is. 3d: and sea- 

 damaged is. \d. per tti. Out of 30 bales of Lima- Jamaica 

 offered, 3 only were disposed of, at 10c?. per lb. 01 Mexican, 



4 bales were offered and disposed of without reserve at 4c? 

 per ft). On the 30th of the month, 4 bales of Grey Jamaica 

 were brought forward and sold at is. 2c?. per ft). Native 

 Jamaica was represented by 37 bales, only 10 of which met 

 with purchasers, fair to good red fetching 10|c?. to Is., and 

 tawny 10;^(?. per ft).; 30 bales of Lima-Jamaica were 

 offered and bought in at from lOrf. to lie?, per ft). 



CAS.SIA FI.STULA, KOI.A, TAMARINDS, LIME JUICE. 



At the first drug sale, 6 bags of good West Indian Cassia 

 Fistula pods were sold at 17s. per cwt. One bag of bold 

 bright West Indian kola nuts, in halve.s, realized 2|c?. per ft). 

 Again, in the middle of the month, 5 bags were sold out of 23 

 offered, of fair West Indian halves, at 3c?. per ft).; 13 bags of 

 fair Ceylon were also offered and sold at 3c?. per ft). At the 

 beginning of the month, fair pale Barbados tamarinds were 

 sold, in bond, at 14s. per cwt., and a fortnight later 34 

 packages of dry palish St. Kitts were offered, 9 of which sold 

 at 10s. per cwt., in bond, the remainder being bought in at 

 12s. 6<^. At the last sale in the month, tamarinds were 

 represented by a large quantity of dark West Indian from 

 Nevis, a small portion of which .sold at 10s. 6c?. in bond. In 

 the beginning of the month, ordinary to good raw West 

 Indian lime juice realized from \\d. to Is. 2e?. per gallon, at 

 which price there was a quiet demand. 



TRADE AND COMMERCE OF JAVA, 1909. 



The trade and conmierce of Java for 1909 is dealt with 

 in No. 434, Annual Serie.s, of the Diplomatic and Consalar 

 Jiejjorls, issued in May 1910. This shows that the sugar 

 crop of 1909 in Java has been a good one, on the whole, and 

 high prices have been obtained. Although the area under 

 cultivation was larger than that in 1908, the yield of sugar 

 per acre was less in 1909 than in that year, on account of the 

 deterioration in the quality of the juice and a short crop in 

 Mid .Java, caused by continual heavy rains during the early 

 months of they ear. The most recent returns show that the 

 area planted in cane for 1910 is about 27 per cent, more than 

 in the year before. It was considered that if favourable 

 weather was experienced early in 1910, the prospects for the 

 crop of that year are good. 



Statistics for 1909, subject to modification, showed that 

 the total production of sugar was 1,248,094 tons from 302,065 

 acres; so that the yield per acre was 4"13 tons. The num- 

 ber of mills working was 181. 



The production of coffee in 1909, was 13,256 tons; for 

 1910 it was estimated to be 13,421 tons. The exports of 

 tobacco were fully 200,000 packages less than in 1908, 

 because of the unfavourable weather. The output of rice 

 during 1909 was 53,100 tons, as against 21,800 in the 

 previous year. There was a lessening in the exports of 

 copra, which were 72,000 tons, compared with 94,976 tons 

 in the previous year. Of oil seeds, the shipments were roughly 

 as follows; ground nuts 16,000; castor seeds 3,000; kapok 

 (silk cotton) seeds 12,000 tons. 



The report states that the rubber production of Java is 

 still inconsiderable, and will remain so for some years to 

 come. Clearing and planting of new ground have been 

 accomplished to a large extent during 1909, and the 

 demand for land for rubber cultivation has been strong. An 

 attempt to ascertain the amount of capital sunk in rubber 

 estates in Java, Sumatra and Dutch Borneo at the end of 

 1909 has shown that this is £5,640,000, made up as follows : 

 British £2,500,000; Dutch £1,500,000; Franco-Belgian 

 £1,45.5,000; German £185,000. These figures are, however, 

 approximate. 



