Vol. X. No. 237. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



175 



beans might follow these oi>eration.s, and then a second crop 

 of cotton should be planted. After this has been harvested, 

 the burning, ploughing and cultural operations should be 

 repeated for the third time; after this the field might be 

 replanted with arrowroot. The arrowroot plants for this 

 purpose should be carefully selected, as being free from 

 disease, and might with advantage be obtained from 

 a specially formed nursery placed on soil in which arrowroot 

 had not been grown for many years. On sugar estates, sugar- 

 cane might be used as a rotation for the eradication of the 

 arrowroot disease, and in this case, when the cane crops have 

 been removed, the cane stumps should be dug up and burnt, 

 together with the trash lying on the field. It is probable that, 

 if this burning is done thoroughly, and is followed, as in the 

 case of cotton, by adequate cultural operations, it will not 

 be necessary to grow more than one crop of canes before re- 

 planting the field in arrowroot. In fields where the infected 

 areas are few in number and not of large extent, it might be 

 found advisable to surround each with a trench as before, to 

 cover it with bush obtained from elsewhere, and to sterilize 

 its surface soil by burning the bush as above; while in small 

 areas of this kind, it should l)e possible to remove completely 

 all portions of the infected arrowroot. An alternative course, 

 after removing the arrowroot and surrounding the spots with 

 trenches, would be to try the effect of some soil fungicide, 

 such as Fungal, scattered l>roadcast over the infected soil, 

 and hoed in. I was informed that lime was useless as a fungi- 

 cide in connexion with this di-sease, though I cannot but 

 think that, if used in as large quantities as the nature of the 

 soil will permit, it might be found to produce more effect 

 than has been the ca.se up to the present; while it is possible 

 that such a dressing applied to a large field, immediately 

 after the removal of the arrowroot, and immediately prior to 

 the rest of the treatment suggested above, might be of mate- 

 rial assistance in destroying the fungus present in the soil. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 

 MARKET. 



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

 lowing report on the London drug and spice market, 

 for the month of April :— 



The general tone of the markets during April has been 

 dull and uninteresting, and deducting the occurrence of the 

 Easter holidays from the period under review the month may 

 be said to have had but little to record, either in the matter 

 of drugs or spices, In direct West Indian products nothing 

 calls for comment. In fact, the only drug that has excited 

 interest in the market has been Buchu leaves, which at the 

 close of the month were commanding 4.s. per B). for short 

 broad green. Considering the demand for the leaves, and 

 the continued diminution in the supplies from the Cape, and 

 further considering that they are the produce of a small 

 evergreen shrub, it seems remarkable that one of the species, 

 if not all three that furnish the commercial leaves namely, 

 Barosma helulina, B. ct-eniilata and B. serratifolia should 

 not have been introduced and established in other suitable 

 climates besides that of its native habitat. It is stated that 

 though the shipments from Cape Colony during .January and 

 February of this year, aranounted to only 55,213 It), against 

 86,945 ft. during the same period of last year, the values 



have been £7,947 this year against £6,578 in 1910 owing 

 to the advance in price. 



The following are the details regarding West Indian 

 products: — 



GINGER. 



There have been large offerings of ginger during the 

 month but it has been met with very little demand. At the 

 first spice auction on the 5th, out of 879 bags of Cochin 

 oftered, only 165 sold; hard brown Liberian characters 

 realizing 40s. to 40.<. 6</., and lean 31.s. M. to 32s.; 65s. was 

 the price at which bold and medium brown rough was bought 

 in, and 51s. for small to bold washed. A week later 211 

 bags of washed roughed Cochin were partly sold at 41s. per 

 cwt. On the 26th the offerings amounted to 816 bags of 

 Cochin, 352 bags of China, Liberian character, 102 bags of 

 Japanese and 30 bags of Sierra Leone. Smallish washed 

 Cochin soldjat 41s. 6rf. to 426-., and 10 bags of the China 

 fetched 30s. per cwt.; 12 cases of selected bold scraped Calicut 

 were bought in at 90s. per cwt., all the Japanese at 48s., and 

 the Sierra Leone at 38s.; no Jamaica has been offered. 



NUTMEGS AND PIMENTO. 



At auction on the r2th, nutmegs were represented by 

 233 bags of West Indian and 42 packages of Eastern. The 



former sold at the following rates: 56's, Is. 3(Z.: 59's, Is. 2d.; 

 62's, Is. \d.; 70's, 5d; 78s, 6d; 89's to 90's, 5jd'to 5^.; 



prices 

 Indian had slightly advanced. There has been very little 

 doing in pimento, at the last auction in the month 86 ba"s 

 were oftered, and all liought in at 2§(/. per lb. 



ARROWROOT. 



There has been but very little business in this article 

 throughout the month. At the last auction on the 26th, 

 some 13 cases of Madagascar were oftered, and bought in at 

 lOrf. per ft. Of St. Vincent, private sales have been eftected 

 at from 2d. to 2|c?. per ft. 



SARSAPAEILLA. 



Genuine grey Jamaica continue.j scarce, and much in 

 demand. Several bales, it has been reported, have arrived, 

 but will not be offered for sale till the first auction in May. 

 The offerings of other kinds during the month have been: on 

 on the 6th, native -Jamaica 38 bale.s, Honduras 4 and Guate- 

 mala 8 bales. Of the native .Jamaica, 13 bales were disposed 

 of, fair red fetching \\d., dull red 8d., and common grey 

 &d. to Id. per ft. All the Guatemala was bought in at Sd. 

 per ft., and the Honduras at Is. M. At the end of the month 

 it was reported that 22 bales of grey Jamaica and 36 of 

 Lima Jamioa had arrived. 



OIL OF LIME, LIME .lUICE AND TAMARINDS. 



At auction on the 5th, oil of lime was represented by 

 a single case of West Indian distilled, which sold at Is. M. 

 per ft., while good hand-pressed was quoted at 5s. M. A week 

 later the former had advanced to Is. 4d for good, while hand- 

 pressed, for which it was stated there was no demand, had 

 dropped to 5s. Both these prices held good at the close of 

 the month. There has been a firm market in, and a fair 

 demand for, West Indian lime juice, raw being quoted at 

 from Is. to \s. 2d. per gallon, and concentrated at £18 2s.Qd. 

 to £18 7s. 6f/. Tamarinds have not been abundant during 

 the month, having been represented only at the first auction 

 by 81 casks of East Indian, all of which were bought in at 

 12s. 6rf. per cwt. 



