Vol. X. No. 227. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



15 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mr. J, R.Jackson, A.LS., has forwarded the fol- 

 lowing report on the London drug and spice market, 

 for the month of November : — 



Varied opinions have been expressed by Mincing Lane 

 experts on the condition of the trade in drugs and spices, or 

 medicinal products during the month of Xovemlier, which on 

 being summed up have resulted in a fairly satisfactory ver- 

 dict, in comparison with the closing months of recent years. 

 When, however, the prospects are looking somewhat brighter 

 and the season of Christmas is close at hand, the country is, 

 at the time of writing, for the second time in one year, sub- 

 ject to the disturbance consequent on a general election, and 

 the consequent interference with trade, generally. With 

 regard to special products, there is nothing to report in con- 

 nexion with West Indian trade, though it may be interesting 

 to note that Eucalyptus oil is in great demand, as it always 

 is at this cold-catching time of the year, and further that the 

 very high price of glycerine is not only maintained, but the 

 curious fact is stated, that the dynamite quality of the article 

 is selling at a higher rate than that demanded for chemically 

 pure quality. 



The following are the details referring to West Indian 

 products : — 



GINGER. 



Very little interest has been taken in this article; practi- 

 cally no .Jamaica has been offered. On the Jnd of the month 

 some 40 bags of washed rough Cochin, slightly mouldy, were 

 dispo.sed of at 50s. per cwt. Out of 18 cases of Calicut 

 offered, 8 only were sold, at 77.s. 6d. for medium cut. On 

 the iSrd of the month, 172 bags of washed rough Cochin 

 were offered, and bought in at .55.'?. per cwt. 



NUTMEG.?, M.\CE AND PIMENTO. 



Nutmegs were steady throughout the month. On the 

 23rd, a large consignment of 160 packages was brought 

 forward and sold at \d. per tt). advance on previous rates. 

 At auction on the 2nd, mace was in good demand; West 

 Indian was represented by GG bags, which sold at the 

 following rates: fine pale 2s. 3d. to 2.« lc7., good 2.s. 2(1, 

 fair 2s., and ordinary In. \0d. to Is. \ld. Fair bold Java 

 fetched 2.S. 4c?., and curly palish 2.s. 2d. per Dj. At the end 

 of the month there was a general advance in price of '2d. per 

 u;.., 134 packages being sold at 2.s. 6'/. for fair palish, 2.s. 3rf. 

 to 2s. id. for pale and reddish, 2.<. '2d. to 2s. 'id. for fair 

 reddish, and Is. 7d. to Is. lOd. per lb. for broken. There was 

 but little demand for pimento at the beginning of the month. 

 On the 23rd, however, 292 bags were brought forward and all 

 bought in at 2|(:Z. per lb. It was stated that sales had been 

 effected privately. 



In arrowroot, the market has been very quiet. Privately, 

 some sales of St. Vincent have been effected at prices up to 

 2'?. per lb. 



S.\RSAPAEILLA. 



At the first auction on the 3rd of the month the offerings 

 were as follows: Grey .Jamaica 2 bales, Lima-.Jamaica 28 

 bales, and native Jamaica 8 bales. The two bales of grey 

 Jamaica which were of fair (|uality realized Is, 6d. per lb. 

 Only 16 bales of Lima- Jamaica found purchases at from lOd. 

 to lOhd. per B). for coarse to fair. Six bales out of the 8 offered 

 of native Jamaica were .sold, fair liright red fetching 



lid. to 11 id, dull red lOd, and mixed red and yellow 9(i. 

 per ft). A fortnight later sarsaparilla was in good supply 

 amounting to 21 bales of grey .Jamaica, 37 of Lima-Jamaica and 

 31 of native Jamaica; the whole of the grey Jamaica was sold, 

 fair fetching Is. Qd. and slightly rough Is. id. to Is. 5d. per Bi. 

 Ten bales only of Lima-Jamaica found customers at lOd 

 per tti. for fair and slightly rough, while of native Jamaica 

 only 8 bales were .sold, fair red fetching lOd. to lOid. per ft)., 

 and dull red and yellow 9'i. 



OIL OF LIME, LIME -JUIlE AND KOLA. 



At the first auction in the month West Indian oil of 

 lime, f)Oth distilled and expressed were brought forward but 

 none sold, the reserve prices being Is. 4c?. for distilled and 

 .5s. 6c?. for expressed. At the end of the month these prices 

 had slightly declined, the quotations being for fair quality dis- 

 tilled Is. 3i(i. to Is 4c?., and in larger quantities down to 

 Is. Id. per ft).; hand pressed Avas still quoted at 5s. 6c/. For 

 lime juice there was a steady demand during the month, 

 for concentrated West Indian, at £18 5s. Kola has been 

 almost neglected. At auction on the 16th, 1 liag only, of 

 mouldy Dominica, was brought forward and disposed of at 

 2^d. per fc. 



ST. VINCENT AGRICULTURAL AND 



COMMERCIAL SOCIETY. 



The following account of a meeting of the .St. 

 Vincent Agricultural and Commercial Society, held on 

 December 7, is taken from the 8t. Vincent Sentry for 

 December 9, 1910. 



The advisability of ensuring the timely destruction of 

 old cotton bushes after the annual crops, as a safeguard 

 against the spread of fungoid pests, was further considered 

 (having been discussed at two previous meetings). A unani- 

 mous conclusion was arrived at, that the Government be 

 asked to legislate for the destruction of old cotton bushes 

 at the end of the crop, also old isolated cotton trees found in 

 towns and villages, in yards and gardens, and perhaps other 

 trees and plants, which, harI)ouriiig cotton pests, are ii source 

 of danger to growing crops in the neighbourhood. It was 

 further the desire of the meeting that the Government be 

 asked to submit a copy of the draft Ordinance to the Society 

 liefore it is discu.ssed in the Legislative Council, and give 

 leave to the Society to make any recommendations and sug- 

 gestions with respect to details. 



The two delegates to the recent Mail Conference at 

 ]>arbados, the Hon'ble J. (f. W. Hazell and Mr. J. E. Sprott, 

 .submitted tlieir report. It included the resolution forwarded 

 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Postmaster 

 General; also a copy of the minutes of the Conference, printed 

 in liook form from the report of the Barbados Aijricultaml 

 Reporter. The delegates commented on the unanimity that 

 prevailed throughout the proceedings, on the interest that 

 was generally evinced in the meetings, both by the delegates 

 and the public; and theyi|uoted the remarks of the Chairman 

 of the Conference, who said that not within his memory had 

 such a representative meeting been held in the West Indies. 



VVith reference to the eighth Agricultural Conference, 

 which it is proposed to hold at British Guiana from tlie 12th 

 to the 21st January, the Society accepted an invitation sent 

 by the Imperial t'ommissioner through His Honour the 

 Administrator, to send one or more delegates from this island. 

 It was understood that Mr. Sands would attend the Conference 

 as official representative of this colony; and Mr. F. Corea was 

 elected to represent the Society at the Conference. 



