422 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1888. 
tinged sometimes with yellow, and in some cases deepen- 
ing in shade almost to black. The nut is composed of 
three parts, the outer covering, the hard nut, and the 
inner kernel. In this respect it is like a plum. The 
outer covering is from an eighth to a quarter of an inch 
in thickness, of a fibrous nature, and iu this is the oil. 
To extract the latter, the nuts are boiled and beaten 
to separate the oil from the fibre, which is then skim- 
med oft", and put away in pots ready for sale, requiring 
no further preparation. The inner nut is cracked and 
the kernel, which produces a fine white oil, is sold. A 
■ few years ago oil from Angola sold in Europe for about 
£40 a ton ; it has now gone down to £20, and there is 
said to be no prospect at present of an improvement 
in the price, because so many substitutes of a cheap 
kind, notably petroleum are now employed in manu- 
factures such as soap, candles, etc., where at one time 
palm oil alone was used. The meal of the kernel, after 
the oil is pressed out, is used to make seed-cake for 
cattle. The oil is also used as an article of food, but 
it is then subjected to a little more refining than when 
it is intended for commerce. 
This African palm grows so readily almost every- 
where in Ceylon that it may come to rival the coco- 
nut and palmyra ; indeed exceed both in its ready 
growth, The "Encyclopedia Britannica " says : 
— ' The seeds of Elais c/uineensis of Western Tropical 
Africa yield, when crushed and boiled, palm oil." 
" Chambers's Encyclopedia " says : — " The pulp 
of the flrupeB forming about three-fourths of their 
whole bulk, yields, by bruising and boilinr/, an oil " 
&c. Again, " The nut was formerly rejected as 
useless after the oil had been obtained from th 
fruit ; but from its kernel a fixed oil is now extracted 
[Not said how, so we infer expression. — Ed.] 
called palm nut oil ; which is clear and limpid 
and has become to some extent an article of 
commerce." " Unripe nuts make excellent soup"! 
DRUG TRADE REPORT. 
London, November 1st. 
Quinine foe the Million. — It appears that a well- 
known London quinine operator is now trying to 
popularise quinine among the natives of India, 
Burmah, &c, by offering to supply " direct to the 
consumer " 4-grain quinine pills in boxes of two each, 
twelve boxes done up in a larger packet, at Is for the 
twenty-four, which is equivalent to 4s 6d per oz. 
Buyers who order 1,600 small boxes, or about 30 oz. 
quiuine, in odo order, will receive the goods carriage 
paid to any part of India. Each packet is accom- 
panied by an illustrated pamphlet of 16 pages, giving 
information in Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali, and 
Hindustani, with pictures of various public buildings 
in England to " catch the native eye." Particular 
attention is called to the fact that the pills are " made 
by machinery." 
Avnatto.— A little firmer. Some fairly good Bra- 
zilian Boll annatto was offered, and sold at Is per lb., 
and for a parcel of East Indian Seeds 3|d per lb. — 
rather a good price — was paid. 
Cardamoms. — Only a small quantity was offered 
for sale today, and mostly disposed of, with ex- 
cellent competition, at an average advance of 
fully 2d per lb. for fairly good lots, which formed 
the bulk of the supply. Ceylon Malabar, good pale 
hound, medium to bold, Is lOd ; rather smaller and 
yellower, Is 8d ; small to medium fair yellow and 
warty, Is Gd to Is 7d ; very small round, lOd; husks 
and split, 5d to 7d per lb. Mysore, fair medium 
to bold pale round, 2s; long pale medium to bold 
Size, Is Oil; medium and small mixed, Is 5d ; small, 
1» i<\ ; very small thin pale, 9&d to Is per lb. Seeds 
sold at Is 4d to Js Bd per lb. Alcppy, fairly good 
brown, Ud to Is Thin small Tellicherry held at 
4d per lb. 
Cinchona. — South American barks wero in small 
■Apply today, and uono were sold. Two boxes of (lat 
red bark (South American) wcro (shown, oho (100), 
containing exceptionally fine bold red pieces for which 
10s or lls'per lb. is required, theother(5G lb.) of good 
colour, but broken and dusty, was bought iu at 4s 6d 
per lb. The total exports of cinchona from Java 
during the month of August were 262,452 Amst. lb. 
This was all grown on private plantations, and about 
one-fourth of it has been sent to London, the rest 
going to Amsterdam. Mail advices from Ceylon stated 
that the seasou just clofed has been remarkable 
for the collapse of' public sales throughout the year; 
and that there is little doubt that on many estates 
the cultivation has been given up entirely in favour 
of tea. 
Ceoton Seed.— A small lot of faL-ly good pale 
Ceylon seed was disposed of today at 18s perewt., which 
shows some improvement. 
Quinine. — A large business, amounting to over 
200,000 oz. is said have been transacted since last 
week at advancing prices, the rise being between Id 
and ljd per oz. since the date of our last report. 
Whether the quantity reported as having been sold 
has actually changed hands it is, of course, impossible 
to say; but there seems no doubt that a considerable 
movement has really taken place. The B. & S. and 
Brunswick factories are said to have been the prin- 
cipal sellers. The former works now quote Is Gd to 
Is 6Jd for delivery early next year, and they claim to 
have actually made sales at the lower figure. Whiffeu's, 
Jobst's, and Zimmer's brands are quoted at Is 6d per 
oz. in bulk ; Howards' and Pelletiei's brands remain 
unchanged. It is not, of course, an easy matter to 
give the precise reasons for every smalt fluctuation 
in the article, and the only safe guide to the future 
is, we are convinced, to entirely leave out of account 
the manoeuvres of different speculators. We hear 
rumours of all kinds concerning these operations, 
such, for instance, as that the London agency for 
a foreign manufacturer recently sent large quantities 
of quinine bought here back to the Continent for the 
purpose^ of being repacked and then tendered to 
buyers in fulfilment of contract. Hut rumours of this 
kind are always in the air, and no great importance 
should be attached to them. 
Vanilla. — The latest mail reports from Mauritius 
state that the outturn of the coming crop in that is- 
land will be a small one, and is not expected to 
exceed 34,000 lb. At today's auctions over 200 tins 
were offered, and nearly all sold at good to slightly 
dearer rates. Common long, 8s to 9s; ordinary small 
and brownish, slightly crystallised, 5s to 9s; good 
chocolate, 4 to 7 inches, 6s to 10s; 7 to 7J inches, 
lis 6d to 14s ; 8 inches, 18s to 19s ; fine, 8J to 9i, 
23s. A large parcel of very ordinary beans, said to 
be salvage from the Yorouba, but resembling very 
nearly the pods from the African West Coast which 
we noticed in a recent issue, sold at 5s to 6's Gd for 
the best, and from 2s. to Is Id per lb for the com- 
monest lots. — Chemist aud Drur/gist, Nov. 3rd. 

TROPICAL FRUITS. 
(From the Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information.) 
DOMINICA. 
The following interesting and valuable Keport on the 
fruits of Dominica has been prepared by Dr. H. A. 
Alford Nicholls, P. l. s., Government Medical Officer, 
and a valued correspondent of Kew : — 
From the time of its settlement Dominica has been 
justly celebrated for its fruit. Of all the British 
Possessions in the Lesser Antilles it is now regarded 
as having the best promise of the development of a 
large and remunerative fruit trade, not only with the 
United States and Canada, but also with Europe. 
The islands lying between Dominica and the mainland 
of North America, with the exception perhaps of the 
small colony of Moutserrat, are not adapted for the 
cultivation of most of the tropical and sub-tropical 
fruits, by reason of the droughts to which they are 
sometimes subject. Thus it happens that Dominica is 
the nearest fruit-producing island of the Lesser Antil- 
les to the United States and Canada, and it is also 
the nearest of tho West Indian fruit islands to Great 
Itritaiu. This is an important fact iu regard to the 
futuro of the fruit trade between Great Britain and 
