482 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



wine per capita and produces less. Pineapples 

 and oranges are grown in Cuba. As regards 

 the latter, the fruit is very fine, and when the 

 youug groves now comiDg into bearing more 

 fully develop, Cuba will make a strong bid for 

 a high place in the fruit market of the world. 

 Bananas grow to perfection, particularly in 

 the eastern part of the island, where large 

 banana plantations are under cultivation, more 

 than 99 per cent of the production going to 

 the United States, In addition to th a banana 

 which is eaten as a fruit, there is another 

 variety known as plantain, which is used for 

 cooking purposes. Green plantains when cut 

 thin and fried are much appreciated in Cuba, 

 and are said to be far more nutritious than 

 potatoes. They are also used in soups and 

 stews, and are baked and prepared in many ways. 

 — Journal of the Boyil Society of Arts, Sept. 29. 



CINNAMON AND CASSIA. 



With the extension of rubber and coconut 

 cultivation in Ceylon, owners of cinnamon plan- 

 tations in suitable localities have found it to ad- 

 vantage to root out cinnamon and plant either 

 rubber or coconuts. It hardly pays the cinnamon 

 planter to continue cultivation of the product 

 at existing prices, and a good many of them have 

 substituted the more remunerative products for 

 the ppice. This is especially noticeable, says the 

 "Storekeeper," in the Southern province, where 

 rubber is replacing cinnamon, and in the 

 Negombo district, where coconut cultivation is 

 being extended. As a result of all this there is 

 a scarcity of cinnamon in the market just now. 



To make good the deficiency in the European 

 market, cassia bark, imported from China, is 

 being used as a substitute for cinnamon. It is 

 not improbable that it will swamp the cinnamon 

 trade completely if the cultivation of cinnamon 

 is not encouraged. A rough estimate places the 

 acreage of cinnamon cultivation in the island of 

 Ceylon at 45,000 acres. The total expotts of this 

 product for 1910 amounted to 6,286,060 lb. — Ma- 

 gazine of Commerce and British Exporter, for Oct. 



SUGAR, TEA ANlTcOFFEE. 



Some Government statistics which have ap- 

 peared recently throw light upon British tastes, 

 and the extraordinary capacity of British sto- 

 machs in certain directions. Thus the amount 

 of sugar we eat in one form or another is astoun- 

 ding. We import more than one-tenth of the 

 world's production, which was estimated at 

 i5£ million tons in 1910. Of the total product, 

 more than half (8,600,000 tons) was cane sugar, 

 and the rest beet. Of beat sugar, Germany 

 produced two million tons last year, and it 

 is the semi-failure of the German crop that 

 is mainly responsible for the sharp rise in 

 prices. How serious this rise has been 1 may 

 illustrate from the fact that it costs a laborer 

 with sixteen shillings a week and a large 

 family an additional sixpence a week ! With 

 sugar we naturally associate tea, and here again 

 our consumption is enormous, amounting in 

 1910 to nearly 287 million lb. But why is coffee 

 (the national drink of the United States) of so 

 little account here ? Our consumption of coffee 

 last year was only just over 29 million lb., about 

 one-tenth that of tea.— Lucellum. 



RUBBER FUTURE DELIVERY 

 DEALINGS. 



Guaranteed Speculative Contracts. 

 We understand that before long the London 

 Produce Clearing House will be prepared to 

 accept terminal contracts for hard Para and 

 Plantation rubber. All contracts put through 

 the institution are guaranteed by it in the same 

 manner as are the speculative dealings in sugar 

 and coffee, all of which are passed through the 

 London Produce Clearing House. ^The London 

 Produce Clearing House, Ltd., has offices at 

 21, Mincing Lane, and was registered in 

 February, 1888, with the object of " placing on 

 a secure basis by a system of deposits the deal- 

 ing in produce for future delivery." The 

 authorised capital is one million in £10 shares, 

 and has paid large dividends from the com- 

 mencement. It will be called to mind that we 

 have persistently advocated reforms in the 

 method of rubber dealing as carried on in Min- 

 cing Lane hitherto with the long-drawn out 

 public auctions and resolutions and private 

 dealing.] — F. Times, Oct. 19. 



Position op thk London Produce 

 Clearing House. 

 While particulars of the scheme which has 

 been put forward for the extension of the busi- 

 ness of the London Produce Clearing House 

 to include dealings in rubber have not yet 

 been completed, the matter is actively in train, 

 and it is probable that full details of the pro- 

 posals and terms upon which the business is 

 to be conducted will be settled within a few 

 days. It is probable that some variation from 

 the rules which govern the contracts for future 

 delivery of sugar and coffee will be made in 

 case of rubber, but the net effect — namely, that 

 the due fulfilment of the contracts will be 

 guaranteed by the Clearing House — will be 

 the same. 



The London Produce Clearing House, Ltd., 

 might more properly bo termed an insurance or 

 guarantee company rather than a Clearing 

 House, and it fills a very important and useful 

 position, especially as regards dealings for 

 future delivery in sugar and coffee. It guaran- 

 tees the due fulfilment of the contracts made 

 between its members and, broadly, the pro- 

 cedure, without the technicalities, is as follows: 

 — One member of the Clearing House sells to 

 another member of the Clearing House, say, 

 sugar for delivery in May. Before this contract 

 is considered to be completed by the rules 

 under which the sale and purchase are made, 

 each party has to make a deposit with the 

 Clearing House according to the amount in- 

 volved, and thereupon the Clearing House 

 guarantees the contract The deposit is used 

 by the Clearing House for settling differences 

 which may occur owing to the fluctuations day 

 by day in the price of sugar, much in the same 

 way that differences are paid on the Stock Ex- 

 change at each Settlement when stock is carried 

 over, except that in the case of the Produce 

 Clearing House "differences" have to bo 

 settled each day, and their payment is guaran- 

 teed by the Clearing House, whereas no 



