Vol. IV. No. 92. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



335 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Canada. 



Mr. J. Russell Murniy has forwarded the following 

 review, dated September 11, 190.5, of the position of 

 West Indian products on the Canadian market: — 



The wholesale trade report good inquiry for fall 

 business. The fruit and wheat harvests have fully realized 

 the expectations and are being rapidly reaped without any 

 appearance of early frosts. 



THE SUG.\R PREFERENTIAL TARIFF. 



The action of the refiners in altering their conditions of 

 purchase has been brought to the notice of the Dominion 

 Government, and the subject will be dealt wiih at the 

 meetings of the Tarift" Revision Committee during the next 

 few months. The general feeling, however, is that it is 

 entirely a question of business, buyers failing to see why they 

 should pay more for the sugar than it will obtain in other 

 markets. 



SUGAR. 



Business remains very quiet. There are three cargoes 

 afloat, two of cane sugar from .Java and Demerara and one 

 cargo of beet from Europe. Centrifugals 96° have beeu 

 slow to move, and off'ers of spot sugars are made at an 

 exceedingly low figure, even at a lower parity than import 

 prices. Prices must be considered purely nominal. ^Muscovado 

 89° are without buyers. 



MOLASSES. 



Normal conditions exist, and a steady trade continues to 

 be done by wholesale houses. A small lot of 400 puncheons 

 of Barbados arrived early this week by sailing vessel on 

 consignment, having been shipped foi Newfoundland, 

 Montreal option. 



COCOA-NUTS. 



A slow market exists ; the only supplies wanted being 

 for desiccators, and they are well supplied 



SPICES. 



Nutmegs continue steady at better rates. Pimento — 

 buyers of new crop hold oft" owing to advance at ports of 

 origin. Ginger — small stocks and better inquiry. 



MINERAL SPRINGS OF JAMAICA. 



The following notes on the mineral springs of 

 Jamaica are extracted from Jamaica in 1905: — 



There are many mineral springs in Jamaica, most of 

 them possessing valuable qualities for the cure of various 

 diseases and infirmities of the body. Two of these are 

 l^articularly famed, namely, the hot sulphurous spring at 

 Bath, and the warm salt spring at ililk liiver. There are 

 public institutions maintained at both these springs for the 

 benefit of those requiring relief. 



The spring at Bath, in the parish of St. Thomas, is 

 believed to be the hottest in the island ; the temperature at 

 the fountain head is 126° to 128° F., but the water loses 

 about 9 degrees of heat in the transit to the bath. These 

 waters are sulphuric and contain a large proportion of hydro- 

 sulphate of lime ; they are not purgative, and are beneficial 

 in gout, rheumatism, gravelly complaints, cutaneous affections, 

 -and fevers. 



The bath at ililk River, in the district of Vere, is one 

 of the most remarkable in the world. It is a warm, saline, 

 purgative bath ; the tenqierature is 92° F. It is particularly 

 eflicacious in the cure of gout, rheumatism, paralysis, and 

 neuralgia ; also in cases of disordered liver and spleen. Some 

 wonderful results are on record. 



The Si)a Spring or Jamaica Spa, as it is called, at 

 Silver Hill, in St. Andrew, was formerly maintained as 

 a government institution, and extensive buildings once 

 existed there, but they are long gone to decay and the 

 spring is neglected. These waters are chalybeate, aerated, 

 cold, tonic ; beneficial in most cases of debilitj'', particularly 

 after fever, in dropsy and stomach complaints. 



Another similar spring, but not so strong as 

 chalybeate, exists at St. Fciith, in the district of St. John. 



There are also springs throughout the island : — at 

 ^Moffat on the White Piiver, a tributary of the Negro River 

 in the Blue ilountain Valley ; near the source of the 

 Cabaritta River in Hanover ; at Windsor, near St. Ann's 

 Bay; at Garbrand Hall, on the east branch of the Morant 

 River ; on the Adam's River, near the Blue Mountain Ridge, 

 in the parish of St. Thomas ; at Port Henderson in St. 

 Catherine ; on the sea edge of Manatee Bay, in St. Cather- 

 ine ; at Rock Fort, near Kingston ; and in many localities 

 salt-water springs are found, and some impregnated with soda 

 or other alkalies. 



The following table shows the principal constitu- 

 ents of the waters of the Jamaica mineral springs : — 



Products of the Congo Free State. First and 

 most important of all the Congo country's productions are 

 ivory and rubber, of which experts say there is a sufficient 

 store with which to supply the markets of the world for 

 a length of time that need not cause anxiety to present 

 generations. Besides this, the country produces nearly all 

 the staple tropical products in a wild state. During the 

 last twenty years the Belgians have directed their efforts with 

 considerable success to the cultivation of native cotton, 

 sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee, and cacao. American cotton, 

 within the last three years, has been planted, and the result 

 of this experiment, which promises well, is awaited with, 

 great interest. {U.S. Consular Rqwrts.) 



