401 



dried before being packed. This copra has fallen from its first 

 position and is now very inferior, being no better, if as good, as the 

 poorest qualities. 



vSome samples of copra from Penang and Kelantan have given 

 good results but, as mentioned above, all depends on the percent- 

 age of unripe copra in the parcel, and where you may get one ship- 

 ment with say 5% of unripe in it, the next lot from the same place 

 and dealer may have 50% 



Occasionally a small parcel will arrive from the Nicobar Islands. 

 This copra is evidently made from a nut much smaller than those 

 usually seen in Singapore, the kernel is very thick and rich in oil. 

 Our Chinese dealer says it is made from the " Klapa Raja." 



Ceylon copra is also noted for its richness in oil, yielding about 

 3% more oil than the Straits article. 



Yours faithfully, 



(Signed) Manager, 

 The Singapore Oil Mills. 



PUBLIC AUCTIONS. — Beyond a definite settlement with Messrs. 

 Barlow & Co. of the lines upon which public auctions are to be 

 worked as soon as that firm judge that the time has arrived for a 

 start to be made, nothing in this connection has been done, and all 

 coffee, during the season under review, has been disposed of by 

 private sale. A recent letter from Messrs. Barlow & Co., sums up 

 the situation " We are practically ready to start public auctions, 

 but we have hesitated to experiment on an already unsatisfactory 

 market. If your Committee instruct us to make a beginning we 

 will be glad to follow their instructions. Supplies are now falling 

 off, and it might be well to give the sales by auction a trial in the 

 quiet months of this year. We would suggest giving a month's 

 notice of the first sale, accumulating the arrivals for three weeks, 

 and issuing the catalogue a week before the sale. " Your Com- 

 mittee do not advocate that the Association should take the first 

 steps, but consider that Messrs. Barlow & Co. should be left to use 

 their own discretion as to the best opportunity for giving sales by 

 auction a trial. 



RUBBER in MEXICO. — On the 24th October your Chairman ad- 

 dressed a letter to H. B. M. Consul, Mexico City D. F. Mexico, 

 asking for further information regarding the "wild rubber" in 

 Mexico and any cultivated varieties in that republic, but so far no 

 reply has been received although your chairman's letter was the 

 outcome of a communication from the Consul to the Singapore 

 Chamber of Commerce. 



RHEA FIBRE. — The cultivation of this product has attracted little 

 or no attention during the past year, owing mainly to the uncertain 

 market for ribbons. Upon information received from Sir F. ABEL, 

 Director of the Imperial Institute, to the effect that a firm of high 

 standing in London were prepared, for several years to come, to 

 purchase Rhea ribbons at £15 per ton, the Government, by notifica- 

 tion in the different Gazettes, gave wide publication to this offer. 

 When a member of your Association however interviewed the firm 



