Vol. IV. No. 86. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



2.39 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Canada. 



Mr. J. Russell Murray has forwarded the following 

 review, dated June 10, 1905, of the position of West 

 Indian products on the Canadian market : — 



SUGAR. 



The erratic condition of the beet sugar market on the 

 continent has gradually subsided, and during the jjreseut 

 week we have for the first time for months seen an unchanged 

 quotation for a period of three days. Consideralsle quantities 

 of sugar for refining purposes had been bought, in view of 

 the shortness of supplies in the British West Indies and the 

 firmness of Cuban sellers, and refiners having ample stocks of 

 both muscovado and grey crystals, combined with the slow 

 demand for refined, the market is exceedingly quiet and 

 sales are practically nil. Ofl'ersof 96' centrifugals at 2^c. were 

 declined on the 9th. inst., but business might have been 

 effected at 2|c. However, a weaker market is anticipated. 

 Refining muscovado is unsaleable, large buj'ers preferring to 

 hold ofl;' during the hot months of summer. 



MOLASSES. 



The last month has been better for business. Consider- 

 able quantities of Barbados and other island supplies have 

 been bought. Prices continue to rule high, and new sales 

 will be difficult to make ; the quality this year is considered 

 good. The question of mixing molasses and selling in 

 original packages continues to be discussed, but the difficulty 

 lies in finding a suitable means to check it, and so allow 

 each island's produce to be sold on its merits. 



COCOA-NUTS. 



The demand has fallen off considerably and all classes 

 of nuts are difficult to place. Trinidad and .Jamaica nuts 

 have arrived in fair order and commanded fair average 

 prices ; the low prices in New York continue to influence 

 prices here slightl}'. 



FRUIT. 



Pine-apples are arrivijig in fair quantity, and the demand 

 is good. Bananas are higher in price than last season and 

 business is brisk. Limes have been very slow, owing to the 

 cold spring. 



SPICES. 



Nutmegs : in fair demand. Pimento : very slow. Ginger : 

 a better demand is expected shortly. 



BROOM CORX. 



A good market is available for all good stock. Heads 

 should be cut with at least 5 to 7 inches of stems, and 

 shipped in 300-lt). bales. 



Cacao in Hamburg. Last year's aggregate imports 

 of cacao to Hamburg were the largest on record and 

 reached 573,82.5 bags, as against 409,435 bags in 1903, 

 and 371,100 bags in 1902. German consumption is stated 

 to have likewise increased in the same proportion, and will, 

 it is thought, probably continue to increase still further in 

 view of the undiminished popularity of cacao as an article of 

 food. The prominent sorts of cacao imported to Hamburg 

 are Guayaquil, African (Accra, Congo, Cameroons, Lagos, 

 St. Thome, Victoria), Bahia, Samana, Ceylon, and Java, 

 Trinidad, Caracas, Domingo, etc. (Consular Report on the 

 trade of Hamburg for 1904.) 



PERMANENT EXHIBITION COMMITTEES. 



Readers of the Agricultural News will be aware 

 of the suggestion of the Secretary of the West India 

 Committee (see p. .57) that permanent exhibition 

 committees should be appointed in all the West India 

 Islands. With the view of bringing this matter again 

 to the notice of Agricultural Societies and siniiilar 

 bodies, the following extract from the ^Yest India 

 Committee Circular is published: — 



Our members will recollect that early in the year we 

 made a suggestion that each island should appoint 

 ■A permanent exhibition committee with a view to securing the 

 representation of the West Indian Colonies on every possible 

 occasion, and to obviate the necessity of appointing a fresh 

 committee to deal with each case as it arises. This sugges- 

 tion met with the cordial support of the Im[ierial Dei)artment 

 of Agriculture, and we are now glad to be able to announce 

 that the subject was discussed at the last general meeting of 

 the Agricultural and Connnercial Society of Grenada, and 

 that it was decided to appoijit such a committee in that 

 island. A collection of representative exhibits will gi-adually 

 be got together, and this will form a nucleus to be drawn 

 upon when required. Grenada is most certainly to be 

 warmly congratulated ujion her enterprise in this matter. 

 Already, two further exhibitions are in the air, one being 

 a show of colonial fruit to be held under the auspices of 

 the Pi,03'al Horticultural Society at Vincent Sqnai-e, West- 

 minster, on December 5 and 6 next, and the other, the 

 annual Colonial Products Exhibition to be held in the fine 

 St. George's Hall at Liverpool from January 30 to Febi-uary 8, 

 1906. As we have so frequently stated, we believe implicitly 

 in the desirability of our colonies bringing prominently 

 before the British public their mineral, agricultural, and 

 manufacturing resources, of which, unfortunately, too little 

 is known in this country, and the West India Committee, 

 therefore, most rccidily offer their services with a view to 

 securing their representation on every possible occasion. The 

 expenses of a provincial show, such as the one at Liverpool, 

 would be by no means heavy, and it is our o[iinion that, with 

 the co-operation of the shipping companies, much nnght be 

 done for a less sum than £200 collected among all the 

 colonies. Each colony might contribute towards this 

 amount in proportion to its size, and wc feel confident that 

 they would afterwards find that money well spent. We 

 shall be glad if our members will bring this matter btfore 

 the local agricultural and commercial bodies, and favour us 

 with their views as soon as possible, for time in matters of 

 this sort is everything. 



DISPOSAL OP DISEASED CACAO HUSKS. 



In reference to the note in the Aijricidtnral 

 Neius (Vol. IV, p. 203) on the disposal of diseased cacao 

 husks, Mr. E. A. Agar, of Dominica, writes as follows: — 



Some years ago I was losing a consideralile proportion 

 of my crop from Diplodia, and was recommended by your 

 Department to dig trenches and bury the husks, but this, 

 owing to the stony nature of the soil, was impossible. In 

 the middle of my cacao cultivation are a few small lots of 

 land too poor to grow cacao in which Guinea grass has beea 

 planted, and for the last four years I have had the pods 

 carried to these Guinea grass plots to be broken and the 

 husks left in the open. Periodically the heaps of dry husks 

 are spread thinly over the Guinea grass and the result is that 

 my estate is now practically free from Diplodia. 



