Vol. XVI. No. 397 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



223 



EXAMINATIONS IN PRACTICAL 



AGRICULTURE, 1916. 



The publication of the results of the examination in 

 practical agriculture conducted by the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture for the West Indies in November last has been 

 unavoidably delayed. It is now possible to give a statement 

 of the results, which were as follows. Candidates entered 

 for the examinations from two islands, namely, St. Vincent 

 and Antigua. 



SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES. 



Name. Examination. Class. 



C. V. D. Hadley Preliminary 1st 



R. E. Lockhart „ - 3rd 



Floris Simmons Final 2nd 



Total number of candidates, St. Vincent, 3. 

 H. E. McDonald Preliminary 1st 



G. T. G. Michael „ lat 



V. G. Pereira „ 1st 



E. A. Thompson ,, 3rd 



Total number of canidates, Antigua, 4. 



The foregoing shows that the results were, in general, 

 very satisfactory; but it is desirable that a still larger number 

 of candidates should enter for these examinations this year, 

 and that those also who have passed the preliminary examina- 

 tion should carry on their studies with a view to passing the 

 intermediate as soon as possible. An account of these exami- 

 nations will be found in the A</ncultural News, Vol. XIII, 

 No. 308, p. 61, and Vol. XIV, No. 332, p. 29. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



RAINFALL IN ANTIGUA IN 1916. 



The return of rainfall for seventy-four stations in 

 Antigua for the year ended December 31, 1916, shows 

 •a monthly mean as follows: — 



January 5' 15 



February . 2*23 



March 1-93 



April 2-24 



ilay 4-45 



June 237 



July i 6-44 



August 5'71 



September ; 3 83 



October j 12-34 



November ' 9'83 



Deceijiber 1-71 



with an averagi rainfall for the year of 5823 inches. 



During the period of forty-three years between 1874 

 and 1916 the average annual rainfall is' 45-23, so that tlie 

 rainfa.U for last year is 13 00 inches above the average. T^he 

 lowest average yearly rainfall for the period in question was 

 2878 inches in 1875, while the maximum is 73-59 inches 

 in 1889. i 



The rainfall for the period of five years ended 1&16 is:^ — 



1912 32-2 



1913 42-76 

 1914' 3686 



1915 56-14 



1916 58-23 



According to Mr. W. Fishlock, Curator, Experiment 

 Station, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, the last season's cot- 

 ton crop came to an end in May, and, so far as dealings at 

 the station are concerned, has been smaller than usual. It 

 appears^that prospects f)r the coming crop are a little un 

 certain. 



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 May 1917: — 



The month of May begun with a fair amount of business 

 in products that come under notice in this column, and this 

 in spite of increased cost of freightage and the general ten- 

 dency to advance prices all round, not only in overseas 

 products, but in all others. Especial note may be given to 

 ginger, citric acid, sarsaparilla, oil of limes and mace, as 

 commanding higher prices. 



r.INGER. 



At the beginning of the month, the quotations for Sierra. 

 Leone were 47s. per cwt. No Jamaica was offered, but at 

 auction on the 23rd it was reported that at Liverpool medium 

 and good Jamaica were quoted at 95s. to 105s. per cwt., and 

 common to good common at 90s. to 92s. 6d. At auction ia 

 London on the same date the offering.s were as follows : 617 

 bags of Cochin and Calicut ; of these, 300 bags of good 

 washed sold at 70s. per cwt., while 221 bags of fair limed 

 .Japan were held at 52s. \ 



Mace was represented at the sa'e on the 9th of the 

 month by 17 packages of Wi st Indian, which realized 2s. \d. 

 to 2s. 3d. per fb. for fair to ^ODd pale, and Is. lOd. for dull, 

 At auction on the 23rd, 63 jiackages were offered and sold, 

 fair reddish fetching 2s. '2d. to 2s. id. per ft)., ordinary and 

 wormy Is. 8rf. to 2s., and pickings Is. id. to Is. Id. 



SARSAPARILLA. • I. 



At auction on the 2nd of the month, sarsaparilla was it» 

 good supply, being reiiresented by 5 bales of grey Jamaica, 

 25 of Lima-Jamaica, 14 of native Jamaica, and 25 of 

 Mexican. There was a keen demand for the grey Jamaica, 

 as the drug has been very scarce of late, consequently al> 

 were sold at the following rates : 3s. 2d to 3s. 5rf. for ordi- 

 nary to fair, and 2s. lOrf. for coarse and damaged. Of the 

 Lima-Jamaica 7 bales only were sold, fair, part chuinpy 

 realizing 2s. lOrf.. and chumpv 2s 6d. Only 4 bales of the 

 native Jamaica found purchabers at Is. id. for dimp, press- 

 packed The Mexican failed to€nd a buyer, though it was 

 said that previous to the auction some sales had been effected. 



CITRIC ACID, KOL.\, ANNATTO SEED, CASSIA FLSTULA, LI.MB 

 JUICE, LIME OIL, ARROWROOT AND PIMENTO. 



At the beginning of the month citric acid had advanced 

 to 3s. 6d. per fe., which price it maintained to the end of the 

 month with the additional note that it was difficult t» 

 obtain. Kola has been, and. is still, in great demand. At 

 auction on the 3rd of the month as many as 257 packastes 

 were offered, and all sold at the following rates: 6d. per lb. for 

 dull Jamaica at which rate J46 bags wjere dispoa^ of; M. was 

 paid for dull Ceylon and 3d. for wormy. Annatto seed 

 to the extent of 35 packages was offered at auction on the 

 3rd of the month, but failed to find any purchasers. Twenty- 

 five bales of Cassia Fistula pods, were also offered at the same 

 auction and a sale of 25 bales of slightly wormy pods 

 was made at 50s. per cwt. Some 13 puncheons of lima 

 juice were also otiered, but failed to find a buyer. For 

 hand-pre.s.sed lime oil 17s. 6d. was asked about the middle 

 of the month. Arrowroot has been very firm throu.5houfc 

 the month. 6c?. per B). being the quotation for St;. Vincent. 

 There has also been a very quiet demand for pimemto, 3ld^ 

 per ft), being the price quoted. 



