201 



" All I can manage to sell is a barrel now and then. I sell at Sd, 

 per lb. landed in Kingston. 



" The dried banana, as a fig, is a failure, as the vinous fermentation 

 sets in so quickly that by the time the fruit has been in England 2 

 or 3 months, it is too unsightly to look at the second time, or as my 

 London Agents wrote to say. ' Its too suggestive.' 



" I am sorry I cannot give you a brighter account. 



" Mr. Greast, if he could have got the meal in free to the States, would 

 have taken all the island could have produced at £30 per ton ex ware- 

 house New York. He wanted it for a new kind of beer." 



JAMAICA SATIN WOOD. 



In the Bulletin for April, 1897, a description of the tree and wood 

 of Satin Wood was given, and later in October, a Market Report on 

 Cabinet Woods gave prices from different localities. 



A query was addressed to Messrs. Churchill and Sim as to the rea- 

 son for the difference in quoting price, and the following information was 

 received : — 



" In reply to your enquiry about quotations for Satin Wood, we beg 

 to say the reason why Jamaica wood is quoted at per ton weight, is that 

 the logs shipped from that Island are generally of small sizes —say from 

 4 to b or 8 inches at the utmost, and they are often shipped in the 

 round; whereas from Porto Rico and St Domingo the logs are 

 always hewn square, and range from 10 inches and upwards. Wide 

 wood of these sizes sell better by measure but the small wood gives the 

 best results when sold by weight. For quality, Porto Rico Satin Wood 

 is the best, then St. Domingo and then Jamaica. Squared logs of Sat.n 

 Wood usually yield from 280 to 300 superficial ft. of i inch thick. Lon- 

 don Brokers Sale Measure per ton of 2,2401bs. weight, the measure by 

 which this wood is sold here is a measure with allowances according to 

 the custom of the trade, and is about 20 per cent, less than the actual 

 or extreme measure in the log, in Liverpool the Sale Measure is about 

 10 per cent, more in Buyers' favour." 



PLANTS IN THE GARDENS.* 



Artabotrys odoratissimus, R.Br. — This is a large woody climber 

 with strongly scented yellow flowers, the odour of which is closely 

 allied to that of the Jlang-Ilang [Cananga odorata). 



Climbers have many adaptations for attaching themselves to other 

 plants, and so rising to the light above. The means by which this plant 

 does 60 is a flower stalk, which bends round and becomes hard and- 

 woody, forming a strong hook by which it clings fast and climbs up- 

 wards. 



It is a native of India, Ceylon, Java and China. ( Anonacece.) 

 * These can all be obtained on application to the Director. 



