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been driven to record-figures (it is said that the price of ioo marks 

 has been exceeded several times), had subsided, and when it became 

 evident that notwithstanding the great loss of human life and of the 

 plant required for the production of the oil it was possible to resume 

 manufacturing (which had hardly commenced at the time when the 

 earthquake occurred), the prices abroad again fell to a point in accord 

 with the quotations prevailing here. Nevertheless, the prices which 

 ruled in the district where bergamot oil is produced were very con- 

 siderably higher than they had been for many years past, and apart 

 from local conditions this tendency was stimulated by the exceedingly 

 brisk demand on the part of foreign buyers, and especially by the 

 appearance on the spot of numerous French purchasers. 



The demand for oil and the pressure upon the market were also 

 seriously increased by the fact that a Royal Decree regulating the 

 payment of debts in the earthquake- districts gave to sellers the right 

 to declare null and void any contracts for sale for future delivery into 

 which they had previously entered. By far the larger number of the 

 sellers of bergamot oil in Calabria have availed themselves to the 

 fullest extent of this permission, and as a result both the foreign and 

 Italian buyers were compelled to appear in the open market for large 

 quantities of oil which they had previously secured by contracts for 

 future delivery. This naturally increased the demand considerably. 

 A new price-level of about 34 marks per kilo was quickly established, 

 and the article has remained at this level, with fluctuations upwards 

 to 35 marks and downwards to 33 marks. 



The high prices induced the makers to take up the manufacture 

 again as quickly as possible, and although the total yield will pro- 

 bably remain 2 5 °/o below that of an average year, it may safely be 

 estimated that the present stock in Italy amounts to from 7000 to 

 1 0000 kilos, as a result of the restricted requirements abroad caused 

 by the high price. If it is taken into consideration that this stock 

 must suffice for nearly 4 months' consumption, and further that ex- 

 perience shows that the supply of bergamot oil is never entirely brought 

 to market, because many owners cannot bring themselves to part with 

 their holdings, it is safe to forecast that at the commencement of the 

 new crop all the available oil will be disposed of. 



Unfortunately the prospects of the new harvest are very unfavour- 

 able. The past winter has been unusually severe: storms and violent 

 rainfalls have stripped the trees of their foliage and impeded their 

 development, hence the flowering was poor. The later development 

 of the fruit also has taken place under unfavourable conditions. For 

 this reason the news from almost all the producing districts is bad, 

 although it is true that the reports from different centres vary con- 

 siderably; in some an almost normal yield is reported as probable, 



