Vot. XVI. No. 399. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



255 



seedlings of unrelated plants. In view of the difference of 

 soils, moreover, such experiments must be carried out in the 

 situation where the j^eedlings for which it is proposed to adopt 

 the method are raised. 



Some hints are given as to the method of handling the 

 acid. It should always be dissolved by pouring it into the 

 water; rever.-ing the process may cause a serious accident. 

 The solution should be made up in wooden or earthen 

 containers and applied with watering cans which have been 

 coated inside with paraffin wax. Boots may be protected by 

 being heavily greased. Wooden containers should be washed 

 out, immediately after use, with water containing washing 

 soda. 



W.N. 



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 June 1917: — 



The month of June commenced with a somewhat stronger 

 business tone than has been the case for some time- past, but 

 this was not expected to continue, as the approach of the 

 half-year, taken in connexion with the holiday season, always 

 brings with it a certain amount of depression, even in normal 

 times: and when in addition to these drawbacks there are the 

 continued shipping difficulties and dangers, together with 

 high freights, it cannot be said that there has been much, 

 if any. general improvement since our report for May. The 

 following are the chief items of interest. 



GIXGEE. 



This spice was represented at auction on the 20th of the 

 month by 933 bags of Cochin and Calicut. Of this some 

 163 bags of small, rough washed Cochin fetched 70s. per cwt. 

 White rough brown Calicut was bought in at the same figure. 

 Some 9.5 bags of Japanese were also offered, but 35 only 

 found buyers at SSs. Qd. for partly mouldy limed. Quite at 

 the end of the month the quotations were as follows: 9.5s. to 

 10.5s. for medium to good Jamaica, and 90s. to 9i!s. (irf. 

 for common to good common Jamaica, while washed Cochin 

 was quoted at 70s., brown Calicut at 55s., Sierra Leone at 

 52s., and Japanese at 4Ss. per cwt. 



SARSAPARILL.\. 



The offerings at auction on the 28th of the month were 

 as follows: Mexican 25 bales, Honduras 9 bales, and native 

 .Jamaica 2 bales. Neither the Mexican nor the native Jamaica 

 found buyers, the first being held at Is 5d. and the second 

 at 2.S. Of the Honduras 6 packages were sold privately, the 

 other 2 packages being held at 2s. id. 



CITRIC ACID, CANELLA ALBA, CASHEW HUTS, CASSIA FISTULA, 

 KOLA, LIME ,7UICE, ANNATTO SEED, AND TAMARINDS. 



Citric acid was in large supply ab the first auction on 

 the 7th of the month, as many as 120 kegs and 16 casks 

 being offered, and sold at 3s. 3d. per ft. A week later, 3s. id. 

 was the price quoted, and at the end of the month 3s. 5cZ. was 

 asked. Canella alba bark was rcprf.sented at auction on the 

 7th of the month by 10 packages, biit none was sold. At; 

 the same auction, 55 packages of casheiw nuts were offered 

 •with a like result, and 25 packages of Cassia Fistula shared 



the same fate; kola, however, met, with a more favourable 

 reception, 51 packages, out of 66 offered, being disposed 

 of at the following rates: 6-ld. to &hd. pa tti. for 30 bags of 

 good Java halves: for 21 bags of whole and halves slightly 

 wormy, 6d. per ft. was realized, and for small slightly- 

 wormy M. to 5J(f. was paid. At the last auction oa 

 the 28th of the month, 1 6 packages were offered and 

 all were disposed of, fair to slightly wormy West Indiaa 

 fetching ojd. to 6d., while for small, partly broken Java, 5d. 

 was paid For lime juice there has been but little demand, 

 owing principally to the difficulty in obtaining sugar for its 

 proper preparation as a drink. At the end of the month fair 

 raw We.st Indian was quoted at 2s 9d per gallon. Fair West 

 Indian distilled oil of limes was selling at the end of the 

 month at 8s. per ft. For annatto seed there has been no 

 demand. At auction at the end of the month as many as 55 

 packages were offered but found no buyers. It was reported 

 at the beginning of the month that tamarinds had advanced 

 in price, and that 40 barrels of Antigua had been sold ia 

 bond at 35s. 



THE WISLEY LABORATORY. 



The Royal Horticulture Society's garden at Wisley 

 in Surrey, England, is described in Tke Field for April 

 7, 1917, as having great capabilities. In addition to 

 the experimental ground for fruit, vegetables, and 

 flowers, it possesses a range of glass houses wliich 

 are devoted to special cultures and trials, and the rock 

 garden is one of the largest and best designed in the 

 country. Wisley is therefore well equipped for training and 

 teaching purposes, for the advancement of horticulture, and 

 the society is in a position to accomplish great things. The 

 latest addition is a range of buildings to serve as a laboratory 

 for scientiGc research, and the society is to be congratulated 

 on the pictui'esque character of the buildings. They not only 

 add a feature of real beauty to the gardens, but they give 

 promise of useful work. They are fitted with electric lighti 

 and heated with hot -water radiators. The rooms are in four 

 sections, botanical, chemical, mycological, and entomological 

 A large room is fitted as a library and he. barium, with 

 cupboards for 80,000 sheets of dried specimens of plants of 

 horticultural importance, and shelves for 8,000 books required 

 for the immediate purpose of research, scientific periodica's, 

 and so forth. The cost was £8,000. 



Wisley is now our leading school of horticulture Already 

 a considerable number of young men have had the advantage 

 of a course of training there. The war has, unfortunately, 

 interfered with this department of the society's work, but in 

 view of the great need of horticultural effort and of the 

 importance of a proper knowledge of the arts of cultivation, 

 it m ly be expected that, when the war is over, Wisley and 

 other schools of horticulture will be taken full advantage of 

 by the young men and women who desire to become etficienti 

 workers m tbe great and nationally important department of 

 gardening. 



The Salt Industry of the Turks and Oaicos 



Islands. —In their report on an inquiry into the conditioa 

 of the salt industry of the Turks and Caicos Islands tha 

 Committee appointed for that purpose summarize theiit 

 recommendations as follows: (1) tlie establishment of a com- 

 mercial agent to promote the sale of silt; (2) the necessity 

 for CO operation; (3) the appointment of a supervisor or 

 inspector: (4) the introduction of a bankiag .system; (5) the 

 erection of sheds to avoid wastage of product, and (0) the 

 improvement of .shipping facilities 



