4 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



MESSINA ESSENCES. 



PRESENT AND FUTURE MARKET CONDITIONS. 



BERGAMOT: We believe it may as well be expected that there will 

 be no Bergamot at all, or only to such a small extent that it will not be 

 sufficient to cover one-tenth of the usual demand. We base this in- 

 formation upon the fact that Reggio has been destroyed ; the oil having 

 been pressed during the last months, no doubt considerable quantities 

 must have been there and, of course, destroyed. The remaining fruit 

 on the trees no doubt will have dropped down on account of the terrific 

 rains which are reported, and what fruit remains on the trees no doubt 

 will rot, since there is nobody to gather it and press the oil. Further- 

 more, many manufacturers of Bergamot Oil have probably been killed 

 and there is nobody there to continue the business. Therefore the 

 situation as far as Bergamot is concerned looks desperate. 



LEMON and ORANGE: The districts with the plantations of 

 Lemon and Orange trees begin behind the mountain ridge of Messina 

 and extend all over Sicily. We know, therefore, that as far as the trees 

 and fruit are concerned, only very little can have been destroyed. In 

 the warehouses in Messina there may have been considerable cjuantities 

 of the new oil ready for shipment which, of course, have been destroyed, 

 but these quantities cannot have great influence upon the final quantities 

 produced. The only difficulty will be that the commission houses in 

 Messina attending to the forwarding of the oil. and a great number of 

 the manufacturers in the city of Messina who sell to the shipping 

 houses, must have been killed or have disappeared and the places de- 

 stroyed. We are afraid that for considerable time there will be no 

 shipping done from Messina, but no doubt it will be done from other 

 ports. Therefore, as far as these oils are concerned, it will only be 

 a question of time and delay before the oils must finally come in the 

 market, — of course, probably, at higher prices than were prevailing 

 before the disaster. THE SITUATION IN THIS MARKET here 

 is peculiar, and is more unfavorable under the circumstances than it 

 could have been during a number of years heretofore. The prices of 

 all Messina Essences have been declining during the whole year. 

 Everybody looked for further declines and for that reason remained 

 uncovered, or bought only small quantities which would carry them 

 over a short time until another small shipment might come in again. 

 The importers could only act in this way to protect themselves at 

 least partly against a loss. Notwithstanding this procedure, they gen- 



