186 TJie Supplement to tl 



affairs in America caused a further decline, 

 and at the close of the year the quotation 

 for fine was 99s per cwt. During the au- 

 tumn a considerable number of fine Estate 

 crops were sold from 101)3 up to 110s 

 per cwt., London landed terms. Havre 

 with options, for shipment from 1st October, 

 1907, to 30th September, 1908. The transactions 

 in London as reported in our Summary were 

 3,050 bags less than in 1906. The imports into 

 London were 27,488 bags, against 30,396 bags and 

 41,967 bags in the two previous seasons, and the 

 deliveries for Home consumption were 15,999 

 bags, against 24,930 bags in 1906, and 34,650 

 bags in 1905. 



The shipments from the 1st October to the 

 30th September were as follows, viz : — 

 1906-U7. 1905-06. 1904-05. 



60,087 bags 54,381 bags 64,328 bags 



WEST INDIES GENERALLY. 



What has been written of Grenada applies 

 almost equally well to other descriptions of 

 West India cacao, and the fluctuations of the 

 former have been closely followed by Jamaica, 

 St. Lucia and Dominica. The transactions in 

 London of Jamaica during the year were 

 only a little more than half the quantity 

 reported during 1906, being 3,466 bags against 

 6,224 bags last year. This was no doubt 

 due, partly to the effects of the earth- 

 quake and partly to the drought from which 

 the Island suffered. The transactions in St. 

 Lucia on the other hand have nearly doubled' 

 and were 3,004 bags in 1907, against 1,644 bags 

 in 1906 ; the preparation of this cocoa has shown 

 great improvement on previous years, and a 

 considerably large quantity of fine fermented 

 has been shipped, equal in quality to fine 

 Grenada, and occasionally surpassing it in price. 

 About 4,800 bags Dominica cocoa were disposed 

 of in London during the year, this quantity show- 

 ing a slight advance on that of 1906; the greater 

 part of this consisted of unfermentod cocoa, the 

 quality and value being about equal to " fair " 

 Grenada. 



The Ceylon Industry. 



The shipments from Colombo from 1st Jan. 

 to 18th December exceed those for the same 

 period of 1906 by 3,704,288 lb., being 9,080,960 

 lb., against 5,376,672 lb. last year, and are the 

 heaviest yet recorded. The transactions in Lon- 

 don, according to our summar y, also show an 

 increase over the previous year of 10,150 bags. 



Supplies were not on a large scale at the 

 opening of the market, and there was a strong 

 demand for native kinds, whilst plantation re« 



e Tropical Agriculturist 



alised fully steady prices, business being done 

 at 67s to 79s for fair to fine native, and 80s to 

 86s for middling to good estates. For the next 

 few months the course of the market was 

 steady, there being very little alteration in 

 values ; large quantities of both native planta- 

 tion kinds were brought to auction, and the 

 sales reported up to the beginning of May 

 amount to over 30,000 bags. During May the 

 demand again became active, and prices advan- 

 ced 6s to 8s per cwt. in a fuw weeks. The market 

 was then practically cleared, all the bought-in 

 lots and lots offering in second hands wore dis- 

 posed of, holders being anxious to take advan- 

 tage of the high rates ruling. In August and 

 the two following months, in common with other 

 growths of cocoa, prices rose rapidly and 

 touched lios 8d for native, and 122s for 

 Plantation. There was a tendency to lower 

 prices during November, which was empha- 

 sised by the financial disturbances in America, 

 and prices quickly declined to the extent of 

 about 15s per cwt. During December a fair 

 business was done at a further decline, the 

 closing quotations for the year being 91s 

 to 100s for Plantation, and 70s to 81s for 

 Native kinds. 



THE SHIPMENTS FKOM COLOMBO. 



from the 1st January to the 18th Decembor 

 were as follovs, viz. : — 



1907. 1906. 1995. 



lb. lb; lb. 



9,080,900 5,376,672 6,535,984 



Guayaquil. 



At the commencement of the year Guaya. 

 quil Cocoa was cheaper than West India, and 

 this fact attracted the attention of buyers. 

 During the first four months prices rose 

 steadily 7s to 8s per cwt., whilst the value 

 of West India descriptions showed very 

 little change. The sales in this period were 

 more than half the total transactions re- 

 ported in London for the whole year. 

 Prices still continued to advance with- 

 out a break to the end of September, when 

 118s to 123s per cwt. was paid for Machala and 

 Caraquez and up to 126s per cwt. for fine Arriba. 

 In the meantime, the value of West India and 

 other Cocoas had risen rapidly, and prices of all 

 fine kinds were about on the same level. With 

 the advent of the Financial crisis in America, 

 and the general tendency to lower prices, Mac- 

 hala and Caraquez were driven down about 

 15s to 18s, whilst Arriba only gave way to the 

 extent of 5s to 10s per cwt., a fair business being 

 done at the decline. In December, however, 



