— 6i — 



Orange Oil, bitter. The stock of old oil has been almost 

 entirely consumed and the new crop looks very unpromising; prices 

 therefore remain exceedingly high. 



Orange Oil, sweet. The market development in this article 

 has brought surprises which could not be foreseen. As it became 

 known at an early period that a very large part of the supplies 

 existing in Messina and Reggio had been destroyed by the earth- 

 quake, and as moreover the manufacture of orange oil is usually 

 concluded by the end of the year, there was every ground for anti- 

 cipating a great scarcity of sweet orange oil and a corresponding in- 

 crease in the prices. Instead of this expectation being realised, the 

 quotations during the past six months have fallen almost uninterrupt- 

 edly. Only after prolonged and most careful investigation was it 

 possible to discover the explanation of this remarkable and entirely 

 unexpected occurrence. It then became evident that, although in fact 

 after the earthquake only small stocks of oil were left, a quite con- 

 siderable industry in manufacturing new oil had gradually sprung up. 



Usually there is in the first months of the year a flourishing 

 export of oranges in truckloads from Calabria to Northern Italy and 

 foreign countries, but the repeated destruction of the railway-track 

 in Southern Calabria, the blocking of the line with consignments 

 of all kinds of material required to alleviate the distress in the earth- 

 • quake -region, and last but not least the circumstance that hun- 

 dreds and hundreds of railway cars had been seized throughout the 

 afflicted region and turned into dwellings for the homeless population, 

 stopped this trade in oranges almost completely. The proprietors of 

 orange-gardens, unable to turn their fruit into cash in the accustomed 

 manner, were therefore compelled to employ it for the manufacture 

 of essential oil. Although in ordinary times the small oil-content of 

 the fruit during the months when it has attained complete maturity 

 makes the preparation of oil entirely unremunerative, this unsatisfact- 

 ory mode of disposing of the material was the only possible one in the 

 circumstances. The quantity of oil produced under these conditions 

 was so important that it has not only sufficed to supply completely 

 the demand from abroad, but that at the present time there are still 

 about 15000 kilos left in stock. 



A steady fall in the oil-prices was unavoidable in these circum- 

 stances. Important purchases by America caused an upward move- 

 ment at about this time, which sent prices up to about 14,50 marks. 

 This upward movement was supported and prolonged by the un- 

 favourable news with regard to the coming crop, which is likely to 

 fall not inconsiderably below a normal harvest, and even the residual 

 stock of the old crop which will be left two months hence will not 



