March i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, 
629 
which that Sulphate of Quinine is produced ! It is true 
that bo far the bulk of this exceptional (juniitity has 
been hold with absolute firmness. Never in the whole 
course of the year did the value of'liark exceed 2jd per 
unit per lb., very rarely indeed 2£d,andthe general range 
was only l|d a 2}d. At the close of the year it was 
ljd a "jd por unit. Nevertheless, bark was brought 
upon the market with more or less abundance 
throughout the year, always in quantities fully equal 
to requirements, and the auctions in London were con- 
stantly supplemented by sale of Java bark, mostly 
of rich yield, in Holland, whore ten sales were held 
during the year. From time to time parcels of soft 
Columbian, Cuprea, and such like varieties, of old im- 
port, woro offered at auction, but only to be with- 
drawn, or forced off at disastrous prices ; sellers being 
always ready to accept the terms current for Ceylon. 
The following is a brief monthly record : — 
January.— Market dull with excessive supplies ; unit 
about 2id. 
February. — Very flat at the beginning of the month 
— some improvement towards the close of it; unit still 
about 2£d. 
March. — An advance of 5 per cent, in the Eastern 
varieties ; the market at the close of the month not 
quite so firm as at its opening. 
April. — All the improvement lost. The unit back 
to 2d all round. 
Way. — Tone better: demand equal to supply, and 
unit up to 2^d. 
Juno.— Le-s favourable market: reduced demand; 
unit back to 2d. 
Jnly.— Little : the end of tho month better than the 
beginning. 
August.— Large trade : tho unit of 2d fully main- 
tain. .1. 
September. — Again a good extent of business, and 
prices the turn higher; unit may be quoted 2d a 2jd. 
October. — Scarcely so firm or active us the previous 
month. 
November. —Market firm, and previous currency 
fully maintained, with a fair volume of trade. 
December. — This month opened with tirmuess, but 
because dull towards the close, and the unit receded 
to lfd @ 2d. 
Ac regards the aupplies of last year, it will be observed 
thai from Ceylon there has been again a falling of in 
Hi. " season's " shipments of Dearly 2,700,000 lb. (We 
estimate the percentage of Quinine was about 
per cent). 
The shipments being ... 11,705,000 lb. in 1887-8 
Against ... 14,440,004 „ in 1886 7 
Do. ... 15,305,010 „ in 1885-6 
Do. ... 11,678,360 „ in 1881 5 
Do. ... 11,500.000 „ in 1883 4 
Do. ... 7.000,000 „ iu 1882 3 
Do. ... 3,100,1100 „ in 1881-2 
The supplies of Java Hark ou the other hand igain 
•hew au increase upon the receipts of the previous 
•oa*on, present increase being 1,120,700 lb- (We 
estimate tho percentage of Quinine wan about 4 
per cent). 
In 1882— 1883 they were ... 735,3811b. 
l.-.-,:t -Is,-. 4 ,. ... j,s'j.i;,8 „ 
1.V.4- is*:. ,. ... 1,321,56" „ 
1885— 1880 „ ... 1.771,420 „ 
1886— 1887 „ ... 2,651,710 „ 
1887— 1088 „ ... 3.T72.451 „ 
rim following aro the imports ol the lust seven 
years :— 
South Ueylon 
American, and India. Total. 
1882 packages ('.'.,010 21,030 117.R70 
1888 „ 53.780 81,880 S5.110 
IH84 „ 21,076 37.300 ..8,375 
1886 ,. 5,200 60,410 no 700 
1888 „ 10,500 59,700 70,^00 
1887 „ 9,270 60,600 II9.S70 
1888 ,, 9,040 61,400 70 .'.00 
I. .it your our delivunei again exceeded our r. a [pU 
l>> more than 2,0«M) packages. The official <50C» au.l 
uli irf returns of till U)mluui»l hark* actimlly warcli u-. ,1 
Imtween tlm I, it January and the 31st I •••<-, mbor reed r 
the following — 
Landed Delivered 
pkgs. 
1885 ... 55,343 71,094 18,751 more delivered than 
imported 
1886 ... 70,105 08,086 1,209 less delivered than 
imported 
1887 ... 69,782 72,014 2,832 more do do 
1888 ... 70,509 72,758 2,249 do do do 
The said docks and wharves return the stock of all 
sorts of medicinal bark, at the end of each of the last 
three years, as follows: — 
1885 ... ... ... 62,117 packages 
1886 ... (stock corrected) 62,350 „ 
1887 ... ... ... 59,232 „ 
1888 ... ... ... 56,754 „ 
We commenced the past year with tho following ex- 
traordinary low and unremunerative prices for fine 
qualities, viz. : — 
per lb. 
Oalisaya Quill (say 5 per cent Bark) Is Od 
Ouprea ... ... ... Os 6d 
Ceylon ... ... ... Os 2£d per unit. 
We closed the year at tho still further reduced quota- 
tions for fine qualities: — 
per lb. 
Oalisaya Quill (say 5 per cent Bark) Oa lOd 
Cuprea ... ... ... Os 5d 
Ceylon ... ... ... Oa 2d per unit. 
Sulphate of Quinine. — At the commencement of 
the past year the following were the manufacturers, 
prices, viz.: English, Howards' 2s 4d ; French 29 2d ; 
German Is lOd ; Italian Is lid per oz. Low as were 
the rates of 1887, they were destined to fall still 
lower in 1888. They fell 2d per oz. in the first 
two months of the year: Howards' price down to 
2s 2d ; German in second hands selliug as low as 
Is 8d per oz. From this poiut there wasa slight 
and brief recovery. March was weak ; and by the 
end of April prices (after some slighc fluctuations) 
went further back, and German was sold as low 
as Is 4d per oz. In May Howards' price was put 
down to Is lOd, but the German market became 
a little stronger. June was very fiat with slightly 
receding prices, and by the end of the month the 
quotation for German was only Is 3td! In Uuv 
a large business was done iu German and prices har- 
dened a little, but by the end of August the im- 
provement was lost and the price of Germau again 
fell to Is 3id. Howards' price was reduced to Is 8d 
and it remained at Is 7d a Is 8d to the end of 
the year. Iu September there was some specu- 
lation ; German was dealt in largely and prices re- 
covered to Is 7d, but by the end of the month had 
agaiu gone back to Is 4Jd. In October large 
transactions iu German took place, but the price fell 
to Is 3.1 (the lowest price of the year, and indeed of 
any former period) and then speculative demand 
caused a rally to Is 5d per oz. In November German 
touched ls6d, but afterwards gradually, but surely, 
fell back to Is 3Jd, which price oontinued to rnle 
through December, the year closing heavily. 
Fluctuations in manufacturer's prieeb wore as 
follows: — 
Highest. Lowest. 
English. ..2s Id per oz. in bulk. Is 7d per oz. iu bulk. 
French ...2s 2d „ „ lsSJ „ „ 
German.. .Is lo.Jd „ „ Is lihd „ ,, 
Italian ...Is lid „ „ Is 4d „ ., 
The following table shews the tluctuatious iu manu- 
facturers prices for the month — in bulk; 2d per oz. 
more iu botles : — 
Enomsii. Fukncii- 
January ...2s -Id per oz... 2s 2d per OS, 
Februry ...2* 2 I 2s 2d 
March ...2s 2d „ ...2- -.'.I 
April ...2-21 la lOd a 2- 2 1 „ 
May ...la lOd a Is lid „ ...Is 8.1 a Is In I „ 
Juue ...Is lod „ ...la 8d a la 104 ,, 
July ...Is OJ a Is lod 1, e.l » U luj .. 
August ...Is 8d a Is 9,1 1, Btl a li 10d „ 
September la 7d a la 8.1 I s s | n I* lo.l 
Oolobor ...Is 7.1 a U sd „ ...l»«d a 
November ..Is 7H a N n.l „ ...l«8j „ 
Deoeiubor...li 7d a la 8d ., ~.laM „ 
