Vol. V. No. 110. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



223 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Drugs and Spices in the London Market. 



The following report on the London drug and 

 ■spice market for the month of May has been received 

 from Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S. : — 



Tbroughout the month of May both the drug and spice 

 auctions were quite of a normal character, with the exception 

 of the interest that is still kept up in the revival of 

 sarsaparilla, and the advance in price of Jamaica ginger and 

 the decline of interest in other sorts. 



GINGER. 



At the second spice sale, on the 2nd., the offerings of 

 Jamaica amounted to 85 barrels, the new crop finding 

 purchasers at steady rates, the old crop being offered without 

 reserve at a decline of from 2s. to 3s. per cwt. On the 23rd. 

 65 bags of Jamaica were offered and sold at dearer rates : 

 good medium to fair bright realizing 62.s. to 66s., and small 

 dull washed 56s. to 59s. Three hundred and seventy 

 packages of Cochin and Calicut were also oflfered and 298 

 sold for the most part without reserve at easier rates, includ- 

 ing ordinary small rough limed and slightly wormy Cochin 

 &t 26s. 6d. to 27s.; a few cases of bold and medium cut 

 Cochin sold at 65s.; unsorted native cut was bought in at 

 47s. to 50s.; ordinary small Calicut fetched 27s. to 28s. 



MACE, NUTMEGS, AND PIMENTO. 



Mace and nutmegs have both maintained a steady sale 

 throughout the month with very slight fluctuations of prices. 

 At the .sale on the 9th., West Indian nutmegs were in 

 steady demand at very slightly increased rates. At the final 

 «ale on the 30th., 230 packages of West Indian were offered, 

 205 of which were disposed of at steady rates. Pimento at 

 the first auction was bought in at 2hd. per Th.; a week later 

 there was a much better demand, the prices ruling as follows: 

 Ordinary to fair, 2|d. to 2§t/; and a somewhat superior 

 quality at 2^(1. Of the 550 bags offered over 500 were sold 

 at the above rates, which were maintained at the close of the 

 month. 



SARSAPARILLA. 



The month started with a continued demand for this 

 article, 8 bales only of Lima-Jamaica were, however, offered 

 on May 3, the small stocks of grey Jamaica being held at 

 from 2s. id. to 2s. 6d. The weekly quotations for the 

 remainder of the month were as follows : On the 10th., 

 43 bales of Lima-.Jamaica were offered and met with a brisk 

 ■competition, 35 bales of the best quality met with purchasers 

 at from Is. 5c/. to Is. 10c/. per 1).; and for common coarse, 

 at Is. 5f/. to Is. 7f/. ; 1 bale of red and yellow native 

 Jamaica fetched Is. IcZ. A week later, grey Jamaica was 

 still firmly held at 2s. 5c?. to 2s. 6c/., which had dropped 

 on the 2Ith. to 2s. 3c?. and 2s. id. for good fibrous, and 

 -2s. 2t/. for slightly coarse and sea-damaged. There was 

 also a brisk demand for native Jamaica, 22 bales of which 

 ■were offered, and all sold at from Is. IcZ. to Is. 2f/. for palish 

 ■red, partly mixed, and Is. for sea-damaged. At the close of 

 the month it was reported that the drug in all qualities was 

 exceedingly scarce, though some Lima-Jamaica was still 

 •obtainable at from Is. lOd. to 2s. 



TAMARINDS, LIME JDICE, KOLA NUTS, PAPAIN, ETC. 



Of other products of the West Indies may be mentioned 

 tamarinds, for which there was a good demand at the .spice 

 sale on the 9 th.; 30 barrels of good pale bright new-crop 



Antigua were disposed of at H.s. 6c/., and half-barrels 

 fetched 1 6s. ; 90 barrels of somewhat inferior quality Antigua 

 fetched 13s. 6c/. to lis., and 12 barrels dark syrupy Barbados, 

 15s. Later on in the month it was reported that small sales 

 had been effected of some new-crop good brown Barbados at 

 18s. in bond. 



At the beginning of the month good raw West Indian 

 lime juice in casks realized Is. Id. per gallon, and a week 

 later fair pale raw West Indian was quoted at Is. 2c/. to Is. 3c/. 

 In the middle of the month, 17 bags West Indian kola 

 nuts sold at 3|f/. to 3ic/. ; and at the close of the month 

 good bright West Indian were held at 4|(/. per R. Powdered 

 papain was also quoted at 1 2s. per ft). 



WEST INDIAN TRADE WITH CANADA. 



Referring to a change whereby the sailings of 

 Messrs. Pickford & Black's steamers from St. John and 

 Halifax for the West Indies will take place once in 

 every twelve days instead of fortnightly, the Maritime 

 Merchant (Montreal) of June 14 says: — 



There is no market that the people of the Maritime 

 Provinces should watch more closely than that in the 

 tropics served by the Pickford & Black line. We ought to 

 be able, in that market, to compete with the rest of the 

 world, and we believe, if Halifax and St. John eventually 

 become manufacturing points of great importance, a very 

 great portion of their products would find a sale through the 

 British West Indies and Demerara. Every step forward by 

 these islands is of importance to us, and while political 

 affiliation may be still a long way off, if it ever come at all, 

 ■we should certainly be looking after our commercial interests 

 there. 



BARBADOS AND THE IMPERIAL DEPART- 

 MENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



At a meeting of the Barbados Agricultural Society 

 held on June 29, Mr. C. J. Greenidge, M.C.P., proposed 

 the following resolution, which was seconded by the 

 Hon. Forster M. Alleyne, and carried unanimously: — 



The members of the Barbados Agricultural Society 

 hereby desire to place on record their thanks and appreciation 

 to Sir Daniel Morris and the staff of the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for their untiring efforts in connexion 

 with the agricultural industries of the island and more 

 particularly so in connexion with the introduction of the 

 Sea Island cotton industry, which has been successfully 

 introduced and now forms a staple industry of the island ; 

 and they hope that His Majesty's Government will see their 

 way to continue the grant for the upkeep of the Department 

 for a further period. 



It was agreed that a copy of the resolution be 

 forwarded to the Acting Governor, with a request that 

 he would send it on to the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Mr. F. A. Stockdale, B.A., Mycologist on the staff 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, left 

 Barbados on Tuesday, July 10, in R.M.S. 'Orinoco' for 

 Trinidad. Mr. Stockdale will investigate the bud-rot 

 disease of the cocoa-nut palm. 



