ToL. IV. Xo. 82. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



175 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices in the London Market. 



The following is Mr. J. R. Jackson's report on the 

 London drug and spice markets for the month of 

 April :— 



The occurreuce of the Easter holiday.s in the month of 

 April has gone far towards the disorL'uniziition of the drug 

 and spice markets, though in the earlier part of the month, 

 in anticipation of the curtailment of the sales over the 

 holiday season, a somewhat greater interest was shown in 

 the oft'eriiigs of both new and old goods. 



The principal items of interest to West Indian readers 

 are as follows : — 



taxoEE. 



At the spice sales on .\^pril -5, there was a fair com- 

 petition for .Jamaica at somewhat increased rates, 270 

 barrels .selling at 37s. to 39.s. for middling to fair bright, 

 and 32.S. to 38.s. for good common. Cochin and Calicut 

 were offered to the extent of 400 packages, twenty only of 

 which were disposed of, common wormy rough being sold 

 without reserve at 1.5s. 6c?. Bold selected cut Cochin ^as 

 bought in at SOs., very small cut at 27s., fair washed rough 

 at 22.S., and good bold rough Calicut at 2.5s. A week later 

 193 barrels of .Jamaica were offered and sold at the 

 following prices : fair washed, 37s. to 38s. Gd. ; bold, 36s. ; 

 and common to good, 30s. ; no Cochin or Calicut was 

 offered. On the 19th., there was a largely increased 

 demand for Jamaica at higher rates ; some 060 packages were 

 offered and about 420 sold at from Is. to 2s. per cwt. 

 advance on previous rates, and in some cases it was stated that 

 as much as 8s. increase was paid. The following are the 

 actual prices realized: good, 44s. to 48s. Gd.; good common, 

 33s. to 37s. ; common to fair common, 29s. Gd. to 32s. Gd. At 

 the same auction the quotations for Calicut were as follows : 

 brown rough, 19s.; slightly wormy, 17s. ; brown tips, 18s. 6(/. 

 to 19s. 



AEEOWEOOT, MACE, NUTMEGS, AND PIMENTO. 



Of arrowroot, at the first sale on April 5, no West 

 Indian was offered, and 60 cases of Natal were bought in. 

 On the 12th., 480 barrels of St. Vincent were offered, and 

 200 sold at lf(/. per lb. for good manufacturing. Mace 

 began the month with lower quotations than tho.se of the 

 preceding montii, and but little or no change occurred later. 

 West Indian nutmegs realizccl steady prices at the sale on the 

 5th., slightly declining a week later and remaining stationary 

 for the rest of the month. Pimento began at steady t'j 

 slightly lower rates, about 600 bags being ottered, comprising 

 ordinary and fair mixed blacks at 2^'7. to 2 j(7., and fair at 

 2|rf. to 2|rf. per lb. There were but very slight variations in 

 the.se rates for the remainder of the month. 



SAE.SAPAEILLA. 



At the first drug auction on the 6th. the stock of true 

 grey Jamaica was reported as very low indeed, consisting, it 

 was said, of 4 bales only ; Is. ~d. per lb. was the price asked, 

 =aud l.«. Id. for Lima. Later in the month 16 bales of 

 genuine grey .Jamaica were offered and disposed of at lower 

 rate.s, namely. Is. 2c/. to Is. id. for fair sound, and Is. id. for 

 sea-damaged. Good bright Lima-.Jamaica, of which 12 

 tales were dispo.sed of, realized 11c/. to lli'7., and for 1 bale 

 of fine bright-red native .Jamaica Is. was asked, an offer of 

 10c?. being refused. But little or no change occurred in 

 these prices at the end of the mouth. 



TAMARINDS. 



Of tamarinds the first arrival of the new crop of 

 Barbados was reported at the beginning of the month as 

 being held at the very high figure of 15s., and a few second- 

 hand parcels of fair Barbados were offered at 10s., while 

 white stony Antigua were ijuoted at 9s. At the last sale of 

 the month fair Barbados were quoted at 13s. 6c?. per cwt. 

 duty paid. 



ANNATTO, KOLA, MUSK SEED, ETC. 



On the 13th., 9 bags of bright .Jamaica annatto seed were 

 disposed of at 6|c?., while 3 bags of dull Ceylon fetched Icf. 

 per B). Dull West Indian kola was also disposed of at the 

 same sale at 4ic/., and 24 puncheons of common raw West 

 Indian lime juice were sold without reserve at ihd. to 5c7. 

 per gallon. Four packages of West Indian musk seed, 

 described as of poor flavour, were disposed of at 2(?. per tt). 



New York Imports. 



The following remarks upon the imports into New- 

 York of certain tropical products grown in the West 

 Indies are extracted from the report of Sir Percy 

 Sanderson, Consul-General in Xew York, for the year 

 1904 :— 



There is au increase in both cpiantitj' and value in the 

 imports of cacao and cacao shells. The trade shows a steady 

 increase, and about 33 per cent, comes from the British West 

 India Islands. Suggestions are made that the cultivation 

 should be encouraged in Porto Rico. 



COFFEE. 



The increase in the quantity of coffee imported amounts 

 to about 15 per cent., while the value of the imports of this 

 article has risen by over 40 per cent. The principal supply 

 is derived from Brazil, and South and Central America, 

 a certain amount being also regularly imported from the 

 East and West Indies. During the year 1904 the imports 

 from most sources increased: those from France were larger 

 than they have been hitherto, representing probably, in 

 a large measure, Brazilian coffee from Havre. It has lately 

 been suggested that a duty be imposed on coffee as 

 a revenue measure and also as au inducement to the Philip- 

 Ijine Islands and Porto Rico to turn their attention to the 

 production of this article in jirefereuce to tobacco and sugar, 

 in which the}' compete with American interests. 



BANANAS. 



There has been a decrease in the value of bananas 

 imported from the British West Indies, and an increase, but 

 to a somewhat less extent, in those brought from Cuba and 

 Central America. 



SPICES. 



The greater part of the trade in spices Ls with the 

 British East Indies which supply about 50 per cent., the 

 Netherlands furnishing about 12 J- per cent., the United 

 Kingdom and the British West Indies about lOi per cent, 

 in each case. The imports show a decrease in quantity, 

 more particularly in pepper, while prices have been slightly 

 lower. 



SUGAE. 



There was a large increase in the importation of cane 

 sugar, chiefly from Cuba and the East Indies. Imjjorts from 

 Germany increased, while those from the British West 

 Indies diminished. 



