48 
These high prices, it is feared, must result in loss to some 
shippers, for it is said that a large quantity of dates of last year 
still remains unsold in Lon don and elsewhere. 'To maintain 
prices at a level necessary to obviate great loss it has been thought 
advisable to institute a combination in London, without which it 
is believed that prices would have descended disastrously low 
without sales being effected, owing to the flooding of the market 
by this year's [editus Eas Mum es. The packing of the dates 
and the departures of the mers were also delayed for the 
purpose of gene last se ien s unsold stock in London and 
America, a8 well as for the object above alluded to, but buyers 
would seem not to have come forward, 80 that the stock has been 
little eariy 
The British firms engaged in the date trade would seem to 
will certainly regard the relative prices of the different sorts, and, 
therefore, to artificially keep up the price of dates would not seem 
to be the best method of improving the trade in the long run, 
although it may have been successful for one or two seasons. It 
would appear that the direction in which improvement should be 
sought is by pushing the retail sale, and by taking into greater 
co Bas doratión the local changes v Mie have taken place in regard 
to- the increase of native packers, the attitude of the native 
growers and practices which were fortalde and advantageous years 
ago, ie of binis irre circumstances may demand their partial 
tal aban and the substitution of others more 
Man to de British exporting fir 
The quality of dates this season is said to have been exception- 
ally good, although the quantity was somewhat less than last 
season, owing to excessive heat about the time the crop was 
entering into the ripening stage which caused the fruit to dry up 
all. Some gardens were also affected by blight, yrr caused 
much fruit to drop off pus e being matured. It is said that 
about 750,000 cases of 4 each were shipped trotti Bussorah 
for London, New York, JH Dolo plac Maskat is said to have 
exported 60,000 cases. Besides the stipindnit of dates’ in boxes a 
nt quantity is exported in baskets to India and its dependencies. 
ese dates are generally of the inferior qualities and are trans- 
portet in native sailing craft. 
It would seem that the pre of dates were more or less 
obliged to ship as many cases as they possibly could, uem d that 
there were at the beginning of the season 1,000,000 empty boxes 
which had been paid for, the smaller packers not being in a posi- 
tion to be able to hold over empty paid-for boxes to the next 
season ; and seeing also that sosta ble advances of money had 
pac 
have permitted them to pack; large advances to the growers 
against their dates when ready for oki had also been made. 
It must also be observed | that packers had incurred sundry not 
ARAE expenses in the erection of packing sheds, and 
ere presumably induced m make these siénntidicas for pac 
