Vol. X. No. 242. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



255 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 

 MARKET. 



Mr. .1. R. Jackson, A.L.S., has forwarded the follow- 

 ing report ou the London drug and spice markets, for 

 the month of June: — 



The month of June has been remarkable for the holiday 

 element that has prevaded it with much more than 

 usual severity, almost from beginning to end, conimencing 

 ■with Whitsuntide, which was followed soon after by the 

 Coronation festivities, when the produce markets were 

 closed from the Thursday the day of the actual Coronation, 

 until the Monday following. Thus within four days of the 

 close of the half-year and the approach of the season of the 

 general summer holidays, business has been much interrupted. 

 Notwithstanding all this, the general condition of the mar- 

 kets has been satisfactory and quite up to the normal 

 standard. There has been no special interest attaching to, 

 or demand for, any West Indian product, except perhaps 

 lime juice, which during the spell of hot weather at the 

 beginning of the month was in demand at advanced rates, 

 and continued so to the end. Buchu, short broad leaves, 

 continues to command from 4.s. 6t/. to 4.'!. 9d. per lb. 



i;iN(;ee. 



There has been little or no demand for this article during 

 the month, the offerings for the most part having -been 

 bought in. On the 2Sth, Jamaica was represented by 156 

 packages and Cochin by 488, practically all of which were 

 bought in. 



NUTMEC, MACE, PIMENTO AND ARROWROOT. 



At the auction on the 14th, 3.3.3 packages of West Indian 

 nutmegs were brought forward and sold at the following 

 rates: 59's, 8id; 65's, Id- 69's, 6Arf.: 74's to 76's, 5},d. to 

 %d.; 80's to 85's, 5|d to 5id.; 98's to 99's, 5d. to 5|. On 

 the 28th, 32 packages of W'est Indian were offered and sold 

 at similar rates. At the same auctions on the 14th and 28th, 

 103 packages of West Indian mace were offered at the first, 

 most of which found buyers at prices from 2s. Id to 2.s. 6d., 

 and Is. 9d. for broken. At the second auction prices ruled 

 from 2s. Id. to 2s. 2d. At this auction some 359 bags of 

 Pimento were brought forward, part of which sold at 2Jd 

 per B).; 56 barrels of St. Vincent arrowroot were offered at 

 this auction and small sales made at 3d. per ft), for good. 



SAESAPARILLA. 



The offerings of this drug at auction on June 1, were as 

 follows: grey Jamaica 7 bales, Lima-Jamaica 25 bales, 

 native Jamaica 46 bales. The whole of the two former 

 ■were disposed of. Is. 9d. being readily paid for fair, part 

 roughish grey Jamaica, and Is. Id. per lb. for Lima-Jamaica. 

 Of the 46 bales of native Jamaica, 25 sold at the 

 following rates: Is. 2d to Is. 3d. per lb. for good red. Is. \d. 

 for fair red, and Is. for slightly mixed; while ordinary dull 



fetched 8d, and common dull mixed 6d. to l^d. per tt). 

 A fortnight later, the offerings at auction were as follows: 

 Grey Jamaica 26 bales, of which 21 were disposed 

 of; native Jamaica 6 bales and 4 disposed of; and 28 

 bales of other descriptions. Of the 21 bales sold of the grey 

 .Jamaica, the prices realized were from Is. 8d. to Is. dd. per lb., 

 1 bale of a coarser kind fetching only Is. 7d. per lb. Of the 

 4 bales of native Jamaica .sold. Is. was paid for ordinary to 

 fair red, and 9d. to lOd per lb. for pale yellow. At the last 

 auction on the 29th, 5 bales of grey .Jamaica were ottered, 

 but none actually disposed of, Is. Gd. being the price men- 

 tioned and the quality being somewhat coarse. Of 23 bales of 

 native Jamaica offered, 2 1 found buyers, good red fetching 

 Is. to Is. Id, fair red lOd to lO^d, and common yellow 

 mixed 8d. per lb. 



CASSIA FISTULA, KOLA, LIME .lUICE, TAMARINDS. 



At the first auction in the month, 25 bags of fair Domi- 

 nica Cassia Fistula pods were brought forward, and held at 

 40s. per cwt. Kola was represented also by 1 bag of West 

 Indian, and disposed of at 4id per lb. Eight puncheons of 

 fair, bright, raw West Indian lime juice sold at Is. 2d to 

 Is. 3d. A week later the quotations were the same for fair 

 raw, while good realized Is. 5d, and towards the end of 

 the month advanced to Is. 6d; at the close Is. 9d per 

 gallon was being asked. Concentrated West Indian was 

 .said to be scarce, at from £18 2s. 6d to £18 7s. 6d At the 

 last sale on the 28th, 20 barrels of Antigua tamarinds were 

 brought forward, and sold at 8.s\ 3d per cwt. 



AGRICULTURE IN JAMAICA, 1909-10. 



It is pointed out in Colonial Reports — Annual, No. 662, 

 dealing with Jamaica, that a matter which is significant of 

 the need for the improvement of agriculture in the Colony is 

 the extent to which foodstufts, which might be easily provided 

 in the island, have to be obtained from other countries, and 

 reference i.s made to the -work of the Agricultural Society, 

 which is slowly effecting improvements in this direction. 

 Proceeding to an account of the exports, the report shows 

 that the value of the chief among them for 1908-9 were as 

 follows: bananas, £1,044,820; cigars, £263,850; rum, 

 £186,803; logwood and logwood extract, £160,861, of which 

 the latter accounted for £114,460; coffee, £116,166: cacao, 

 £90,914; sugar, £77,047; grape fruit and oranges, £51,840, 

 of which the latter were valued at £38,474. 



Attention is drawn to the fact that the development of 

 the fruit industry of the Colony continues, and that the in- 

 creased exports of sugar and rum show that these staples 

 have proceeded some little way toward the recovery of their 

 old position. In a table showing tlie relative importance of 

 the principal staples and the minor products, the order in 

 1908-9 is seen to be as follows: fruit, 54'9 per cent.; minor 

 products, 13'6; rum, 89; pimento, 6'8; coffee, 5 5; cacao, 4 3; 

 sugar, 36; and dye-woods, 2'4 per cent. 



Other matters of general interest are the facts that the 

 central sugar factories are doing successful work, and that 

 a new factory has been opened in Westmoreland; that, judg- 

 ing from voluntary returns, most of the land is in woods and 

 ruinate, whils an area amounting to over three-quarters of 

 the area of such land is tilled, in Guinea grass, or exists as 

 icimmori land; and that in regard to the sale of Crown lands 

 for smallholdings, it has been decided to proceed with caution 

 in the matter of selling by instalments, on account of the fact 

 that about one-quarter of the area at present out on credit 

 is now in arrear or taken back. 



