6^6 



tMB l^nOPiCAL AGmCVLTVmSt, [UAtcn i, my. 



QUININE BARK. 



6, Mincing Lane, London, 31st Jan. 1887. 



Gentlemen, — At the commencement of the past year 

 prices for both bark aud sulphate of quinine had fallen 

 to a point low beyond all previous precedent. 



Tbey were, however, nevertheless, doomed to suffer 

 a still further and heavy fall in the course of the year. 

 The fall cannot be put at less than 25 per ceat on 

 bark, and 20 per cent on quinine. This unparalleled dep- 

 ression has, on the one hand, been accompanied by a 

 very extended consumption of quinine: and, on the 

 other hand, the extremely unremunerative price of bark 

 has not, so far, had the effect of at all diminishing 

 our supply. On the contrary our receipts from Oeylon 

 — at present the main source of our supply — were again 

 larger than ever last year. 



January. — The new year opened as the old one 

 closed, with a quiet m irket at previous very moder- 

 ate prices— 4|d a 5d per unit — business limi'ed. 



Fkbruaby was without any improvement either in 

 demand o'- value. 



March witnessed a little more animation ; volume of 

 business somewhdt large ; previous prices firmly main- 

 tained. 



April saw much the same condition of things. No 

 diminution in the quantity of business accomplished, 

 and, although with some little fluctuations, no quotable 

 alteration in terms. 



May WAS a bad month; th; supply of Oeylon became 

 very heavy ; the demand fell off very much,-aud prices 

 went down to 4d a 4| 1 per unit. 



June opened very heavily for South American Bark ; 

 but busii^ess to some extent was done in Oeylon upon 

 previous terms. 



July was a most unfavourable month for Importers, 

 especially of the South American varieties, which were 

 entirely neglected ; rates for Oeylon also ruling de- 

 cidedly in favoar of the buyer. 



August was without recovery in value ; business to a 

 tolerable extent accomplished. 



September proved the worst month of the year, the 

 unit having fallen to 3d ; demand very slow. 



October was, if anything, rather better in general 

 tone, but without any quotable advance in currency. 

 A fair amount of transactions. 



November was decidedly better all round; manufac- 

 turers apparently operating with more confidence. 

 Large business done, and prices quite gd a Id per unit 

 higher. 



December passed without any noticeable change : 

 and so ended a year most discouraging to all concerned 

 in the cultivation of and trade in Baik ! As regards 

 the supplies of last year, it will be observed that from 

 Oeylon there has been again a considerable increase; 

 the total receipts having reached 15,365,0001b, 



Against 

 Against 

 Against 

 Against 

 Against 



11,678,360 



11,500,000 



7.<iOO,000 



3,100 000 



1,200,000 



in 

 in 

 in 

 in 

 in 



1884-5 

 1883-4 

 1882-3 

 1^81-2 

 1880-1 



The supplies of Java Bark shew some, though not 

 material, increase upon the receipts of the previous 

 season. 



1883 they were 



1884 „ 



1885 „ 

 1886 



In 



1882 

 1883 

 1884 

 1885 



There has 



to 

 to 

 to 

 to 



been 



73.';,3R1 lb. 



989,158 „ 

 1,321,509 „ 

 1,771,420 „ 



some little 



augmentation of our 

 but it may ueverthe-» 



supplies from youth America , 



less be assumed that, except in the case of Calisaya, 

 actual cutting has altogether ceased, prices being so 

 utterly unremunerative. 

 The following are the imports of the last six years : — 



South Ceylon 



American, and India. Total. 



Last year, contrary to the two preceding years, our 

 deliveries fell just a little short of our receipts. The 

 oflicial dock and wharf returns of bark actually ware- 

 housed between the 1st January aud the 31st December 

 render the following : — 



landed delivered. 



18S4 59,287 78,532 19,245 more dlvd. than imptd. 



1885 55,343 74,094 18,751 do. do. do. 



1886 70,195 68,986 1,209 less dlvd. than imported 



The said docks and wharves return the stock of all 

 sorts of medicinal bark, at the end of each of the last 

 three years, as follows : — 



1884 ... ... ... 80,500 packages. 



1885 ... ... ... 62,117 „ 



1886 ... (stock corrected)... 62,350 „ 



We commenced the past year with a steady market 

 at the following prices for fine qualities, viz. : — 



(say 5 per cent. Bark) 28 Od per lb. 



2s 6d „ * 



Is 6d „ 



Is 2d „ 



Is 3d „1 



Os 4|d a Os 5d 



t Quite nominal. 



+ 



no 



Is 2d „ 

 Os lOd „ 

 Os Ud „t 

 Os Bid „ X 



Oalisaya Quill 

 New Granadian 



Soft Columbian 



Cuprea ... ... 



Carthagena 



Ceylon 



* Quite nominal, no supply, 

 supply. X Per unit. 



"We closed the year at the following disastrously low 



quotations for fine qualities : — 



Calisaya Qull ... (say 5 per cent. Bark) Is 6d per lb. 



New Granadian ... ... — ,. * 



Soft Columbian 

 Cuprea ... 

 Carthagena 

 Ceylon ... 



* No quotation in the continued absence of supply, 

 t Practically no supply. 1 Per unit. 



Sulphate of Quinine. — Low as were the prices at 

 which we commenced the year, they continued to 

 fall with scarcely any interruption for ten months : 

 and although there was some liitle recovery in Novem- 

 ber and December, they closed at an average dec- 

 line of 8d per oz. for the year. German Quinine has 

 fluctuated more than that of any other country ; 

 speculation in that manufacture being the most rife. 

 The consumption of Sulphate of Quinine must have 

 been verj- large, especially in America. 



Fluctuations were as follows : — 



English — Highest — 3s 2d per oz. in bulk, 



Lowest 2s 4d per oz. in bulk 

 French — Highest— Ss Od per oz. in bulk. 



Lowest 2s 2d per oz. in bulk. 

 German — Highest — 2s lOd per oz. in bulk. 



Lowest Is lid per oz. in bulk. 

 Italian — Highest — 2s 9d per oz. iu bulk. 



Lowest 2s Od per oz. in bulk. 

 The following table shews the fluctusitions for the 

 month — in bulk: 2d per oz. more in bottles: — 



English. French. German. Italian/ 

 per oz, per oz. per oz. 



3/ 2 9 to 2, 10 2 9 



2/10 to 2/11 2/8 to 2 9 2 9 



per oz 

 January... 3 2 

 February 3,1 

 March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 2 4 



October... 2,4 



November 2,4 



December 2/6 



2/10 

 2,10 



2/8 

 28 



. 3, 1 to 3/ 

 . 3 



. 2 10 

 . 2 10 



. 2/10 to 2 8 2, 8 



. 2, 8 to 2/6 2 3 



2/2 



2;2 



to 2/6 2/2 

 2/3 



to 2/4 



to 2,'4 



to 2/4 



2 8 to 2 9 

 2,8 to 2 9 

 2/7i to 2 6 

 2,5 to 2 3 

 23 to 2/ 

 2'1 to 2/ 



2/ 



1/11 to 2/ 



2/1 to 2/3 



3/S 



2,9 

 2 9 



2/7 



2 4 to 2 3 



2 3 to 2 1 



21 



2/ 



2/ 



2/2 to 2/3 



8/3 



