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December and January had passed without producing considerable quantities 

 of marketable new oil in any district. The manufacturers found it exceedingly 

 difficult to carry out the engagements for delivery into which they had 

 previously entered, most of them being in arrears. In the circumstances 

 no free oil was brought to the market for disposal, and the embarrass- 

 ment of those firms which had made uncovered sales for export became 

 more and more acute, as they were unable to carry out the engagements 

 into which they had entered. 



Under the circumstances prices both of old and new lemon oil were 

 bound to rise gradually; they commenced to advance towards the middle 

 of December, rising to c4l 7. — for oil for delivery, and further gradually 

 increasing in the course of December and January to c4i 7.50. The concluding 

 nights of January and the opening nights of. February were frosty and 

 caused the fear that a considerable proportion of the lemons still on the 

 trees had suffered. Recognising that if these fears were realised the 

 condition of the article would undergo a complete transformation, several 

 large export firms decided to withdraw from the market heavy quantities 

 of old and new oil by buying up the entire stock of the principal holder 

 of old oil. This transaction was completed in the course of a few days 

 at gradually advancing prices, beginning at o4i 8. — and concluding at 

 o4l 10.— as the highest figure. 



By -and -by the reports coming in from all the producing districts 

 made it clear that although the frost had wrought a certain amount of 

 damage, it was only in some localities that this had assumed serious 

 dimensions, and the buyers then retired from the market, which conse- 

 quently became sluggish by slow degrees. It is probable that the prices 

 would still be on the decline to-day, but for the fact that during the 

 carnival the entire east coast of Sicily, but especially the region between 

 Messina and Catania, was visited by hurricane-like storms. These un- 

 doubtedly have done a great deal more damage than did the earlier frosts 

 by uprooting many thousands of trees and blowing down most of the 

 remaining fruit. 



This disaster, the wide extent of which meant a further diminution 

 in the oil production, has put a stop to the falling tendency of the article, 

 which has since remained at the approximate price level of c4t 8.50. It 

 is exceedingly difficult to judge what course the lemon oil prices will take 

 during the next 9 months. There can be no doubt that the crop, which 

 was previously expected to yield an equal quantity of oil as that of last 

 year, has been reduced by at least 25 to 30°/o by the events depicted, 

 especially because there has been a very profitable sale for export 

 this winter for boxed fruit, even inferior qualities of this realising good 

 prices, so that large quantities which otherwise would have been 

 used for oil production have been shipped this year as third quality 

 boxed fruit. 



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