Vol. XI. No. 262. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



159 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 

 MARKET. 



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

 lowing report on the London drug and spice market, 

 for the month of March 1912:— 



The remarks made in these market reports for January 

 and February relating to the then threatened strike of the 

 coal miners, as afTecting commercial activity, has, unfortun- 

 ately, become more than fully realized during the month of 

 March. Under such conditions the Produce Markets, like 

 all other branches of trade, have experienced considerable 

 depression. It is thought that, with the strike ended, and 

 the re opening of railway and shipping facilities, the markets 

 will quickly resume a brisk condition. 



The following details refer to West Indian produce: — 



GINGER. 



At the first spice auction on Marc^h 6, as many as 161 

 bags of Cochin were sold without reserve, 39s. being paid for 

 washed rough wormy, and 34s. to 34.S. 6d. for common rough 

 wormy. A week later, 413 bags washed rough Cochin were 

 bought in at 44«. to 45»-. per cwt. On the 20th, the prices 

 realized for the same quality Cochin, was from 42s. to 

 42s. 6rf., at which rates 147 bags were sold. At the last 

 auction on the 27tb, Cochin was represented by 120 bags, 

 washed rough and wormy being bought in at 40s., and dull 

 washed rough at 43s.. Fifty bags of Japanese limed were 

 also offered at this sale, but were bought in at 32s. per cwt. 

 No Jamaica has appeared in the market. 



NUTMEGS, MACE AND PIMENTO. 



At the first sale on the 6tb, there was a steady demand 

 for nutmegs; 41 packages of West Indian were oflFered, and 

 sold at the following rates: 86's to 96's, 5hd. to 5^d ; 107"s 

 to 116"s, b\d to b^d.; 120's, b},d. On the 13th, 2.5 packages 

 of Eastern were sold, at 5|rf. to Q\d. for 76's to 87's, o\d. 

 for 104's, and 4Jd for 147's. On the 20th, nutmegs were 

 again in steady demand; 21 packages West Indian sold at 

 M. for 72's, 5W. to h^d. for 87s to 94's, and 5|d to 5|<f. 

 for 102's to ni'.s. At the last auction on t^e 27th, 143 

 packages West Indian were brought forward, 1 27 being dis- 

 posed of, 59's fetching lid, 73's to 83's ofrf. to M., 89s to 

 99's b\d. to b^d., and 123's bid. For mace there has been 

 a steady demand. At the auction on the 6th, 13 packages 

 West Indian realized 2.';. "d. per lb. for fair palish, slightly 

 mouldy; 2s. M. for palish, 2.*. \d. for fair reddish, and 

 2s. 3d. to 2s. bd. for fair to good broken. At the last auction 

 on the 27th, 33 packages West Indian were offered, and all 

 sold at the following rates: ordinary to fair 2s. M. to 2.s. bd., 

 and broken 2s. \d. to 2.<. 2d. A firm market ruled in pimento; 

 2|d. per lb. was the price paid in the early part of the month, 

 but on the 20th, 27 bags were offered, and bought in at M. 

 per lb. For arrowroot there has been little or no demand, 

 the offerings being for the most part bought in, 



SARSAPARILLA. 



At the first drug auction on the 7th of the month, sarsap- 

 arilla was represented by 11 bales of grey Jamaica, 1.5 of 

 native Jamaica, and 8 of Lima Jamaica. Of the first, 9 bales 

 were sold, fetching 2.«. 3c?. per lb.; the whole of the native 

 Jamaica was disposed of, Is. 3d. to Is. id. toeing paid for 



good red and pinky, Is. 2d. for fair red, lid. for red and 

 yellow mixed, and 8id. to 9d. for very dull red and yellow 

 mixed. The whole of the Lima-Jamaica was also sold at full 

 prices, coarse and chumpy fetching from Is 4d to Is. 6d. 

 per lb. On the 21st of the month, the details of the auction 

 were as follows: Of grey Jamaica, 5 bales were offered, of 

 native Jamaica 10 bales, and of Lima- Jamaica 4 bales, all of 

 which were disposed of, the first at 2s. 3d. to 2s. 4d. per ft. 

 for fair grey, the second at Is. 4d. for rather dullish. Is. to 

 Is. Id. for dull red, Ild. to Hid. for red and yellow mixed, 

 lOd. for common mixed, and 7d to 9d. per ft. for common 

 to ordinary grey mixed. The JJma-Jamaica fetched Is. 7d. 

 per ft. for 3 bales of rather chumpy. 



KOLA, LI.ME OIL, LIME JUICE, TAMARINDS, 

 CASHEW NUTS. 



Kola was represented at the first auction in the month 

 by 3 bags of bright dried West India, chiefly in halves, which 

 were bought in at 4 Id per ft. Again on the 20th, 17 bags 

 of slightly mouldy, said to be from Java, were offered, and 

 held at 5d. per ft., an offer of \hd. being refused' A week later, 

 this consignment was reported to have come from the West 

 Indies, and to have found a customer at the bd. per ft. 

 asked. Eighteen cases of lime oil were offered at the first 

 auction, and 8 sold at from 6s. 9d to 6s. lid. per ft. for 

 good hand pressed Dominica Very little lime juice appeared 

 at auction during the early part of the month, though it 

 was reported that, privately, sales had been effected at Is. lOd. 

 per gallon. On the 20th, however, 4 hogsheads of pale raw 

 Dominican were offered and sold at Is. 9d per ft ; 19 hogs- 

 heads from Antigua were also sold at from Is bd. to Is. 7d., 

 and a further 2 from Monsterrat were sold at Is. 7d. for 

 fair palish. On the 20th, some 40 barrels of fair black East 

 Indian tamarinds were sold without reserve, at from 8s. to 

 8s. 6d. per cwt. At the end of the month it was reported 

 that very high prices were being asked for new crop tamar- 

 inds from Antigua and Barbados and that 17s. 6d. had been 

 paid for the latter. A large consignment of Cashew nuts 

 appeared at auction in the early part of the month, a por- 

 tion of which was sold without reserve at 45s. per cwt. 



Australian Fruit Industries.— The Government 

 of New South Wales proposes to established fruit-canning, 

 vegetable-canning, and jam-making factories in the Burrinjuck 

 irrigation area on the Murrumbidgee. At these factories the 

 produce of the settler will be handled at moderate rates and, 

 subsequently, the factories may be taken over by the settlers 

 themselves, under a co-operative arrangement. The experi- 

 ment will be carried on by the Department of Agriculture. 

 The fruit growers will be encouraged to plant only the best 

 varieties of fruit, and will be taught how to specialize in those 

 varieties that are most useful for canning purposes. The 

 Burrinjuck scheme of irrigation will bring under intensive 

 cultivation no less than 3.50,000 acres of splendid land. It 

 is stated that 500 irrigation farms in this area will be avail- 

 able for settlement in April. A similar proposal is under 

 consideration in Victoria, in the well-known and fertile 

 Bacchus Marsh irrigation district. The Commissioner is 

 endeavouring to induce landowners in that district to sub- 

 divide their properties for intensive cultivation, and suggests 

 that a canning department be added to one of the district 

 butter factories, for preserving the fruit raised by the settlers, 

 (Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, March 22, 1912.) 



