March r, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
So r 
THE "BEAKS" AND COCONUT OIL. 
A merchant writes with a copy of the Aunual Report 
of of Messvs. Rose, Wilson & Rose, dated January 
2nd, as follows: — "Seethe enclosed report: — 
Coconut Oil. — The position oT tl e market during the 
past ) ear was must unsatisfactory, as will be seen by 
prices, which declined to an extent never before experi- 
enced, and must ruinous to importation. '! he lew fluctu- 
ations that did take place were maintained for no 
l.ngth of time and wero generally followed by greater 
depression. The import was 10,645 tons against 12,307 tons 
eame time last yea/, far in excess of our requirements. 
'J he deliveries notwithstanding tho extremely low value 
show a decline. This is owing to the large importation of 
Copra, the greater portion of which is taken for abroad, 
where it is admitted free of duty, whilst oil is liable to 
a duty of from one to six pounds per ton. In January 
the market opened at £31 10s for Ceylon, and in March had 
declined to £27 10s. A slight improvement then took 
place but only lasted for a short time, as in August as 
low as £26 was accepted. This stimulated the demand, 
and speculators stepping in, there was a rapid rise until 
£29 was touched in .September, from which there was a 
gradual decline to the present quotation. In i July, large 
bear " sales were made for shipment during the last 
four or five months at as bw as £20 15s to £27, 
• hich could only be covered afterwards at a loss, and with 
a rising market iu Colombo, as high as £20 to £29 10s, 
was freely paid here in August for these shipments. Cochin 
did not vary so much. Opening at £33, it steadily declined 
to £29 15a in August. In Septembor the price had risen 
t> £31 5s, at which it remained steady for some little 
while but again declined to £29, Mauritius. — The stock 
being held off the market until within the last month or 
so, little business was done in this description. The 
opening quotations are — Ceylon spot £25 10s in pipes and 
puncheons, January-February delivery £20; Cochin £29 
Mauritius £20 to £26 5s in hogsheads. Copra oil £25. 
Jan. Feb. March. April. 
Average price of Cochin(fine) £33 £32 5s £31 10s £31 
do Ceylon.. £30 15s £30 £28 £28 
May. June, July. Aug. 
Average price of Cochin (fine) ...£31 £30 I Us £30 5s £30 5s 
do Ceylon .. £28 £27 15s £27 £27 s 
Sept. Oc*. Nov. Dec. 
Average price of Coohin(fino)... £31 £31 5s £30 10s £29 10s 
£28 £28 5s 
1881 
£27 5s £2.U.-.s 
1879 1878 
Tons 
net 
Tons 
net 
Tons 
not 
Tons 
net 
4,250 
4,012 
3,091 
1,248 
10,645 
8,132 
12,307 
8,556 
7,764 
6,263 
4,103 
4,679 
6,360 
2,580 
1,070 
2,205 
do Ceylon 
1882 
Tons 
net • 
Afloat from Cochin 
& Ceylon by last 
advices ...2,128 
Imported from 1st 
Jan. to 31st Dec. — 
Delivered „ — 
Stock, 1st Jan. 
(Foreign) ...8,851 
Price of 
Cochin.. ..£29 £33to£33 10/ £40to£40 10, £4710s.£43 10s. 
Price of 
Ceylon. £25 10s. £31 10/ £30 10/ £45 10, to£46£3S10, to£38 15/ 
1877 1876 1875 1874 1873 
Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons 
net net net net nec 
Afloat from Cochin 
& Ceylon by last 
Hdvices ...3,183 1,121 1,903 1,105 3,203 
Imported from 1st 
Jan. to 31st Dec. 7,466 7,883 8,552 5,590 1 2.53". 
Delivered 7,775 8,700 1U,36(! 11,212 10,537 
Stock, 1st Jan. 
W (Foreign) ... 2,331 2,988 4,802 10,424 8,428 
Price of 
Ooehin...£lOto£ll£llto£l2£IOto£ll£;!7 to £ 10 £M t . lit'.' 
Price of 
Oochin£37 1 5sto £38 £38 10sto£30 £38 £36 £8415s 
" [| not this what I told you long ago, aud it ap- 
pears it has boon recognised at b mo. I" it not a 
189 
shame that an article in which, perhaps, only second 
to coffee, the island is most interested in, should be 
depreciated in value to such an unprecedented extent, 
mainly through ' bear' sales by people who worked 
lor a fall. This should I- fully exposed for the benefit 
of merchants at home? It is now pretty well cert- 
ain that we shall have no larger supplies for another 
three months at least, and yet the, makers or dealers 
lave only been getting prices such as might have 
ruled with the large-t supplies of nuts." 
The case is certainly one deserving of all publicity, 
and very probably we shall by-and-bye find that 
coffee has been worked on by 1 bears ' just as 
coconut oil is now shewn to have been. 
FARMING IN DAKOTA, UNITED STATES. 
(By an ex Ceylon Colonist.) 
We have been favoured with permission to publish 
I he following extracts from the letter of a gentleman 
formerly resident for some years in Ceylon: — 
Ontario, Dec. 18thj 1881. 
I went up to Dakota in the spring to have a look 
around and help with the seeding. 
So I have been here in Canada, doing the watch- 
dog during the summer. Before I forget it, I will 
at once ask you to find out, if you can, from Mr. 
Sumps, about the rattans he uses in his work. A 
firm here in Woodstock wants to get them out direct, 
instead of dealing, as they do at present, with firms 
in New York, who, they say, take advantage of 
them. They would like to find out about the different 
qualities, where they are procurable, how they are 
generally sold, by weight or length or what, and 
anything else about it you can find out. I wanted 
them to give you a run up to Madras, if you thought 
it necessary, to find out there, but they did not think 
it worth while till they heard more definitely. This, 
I thought, would have mado a nice Holiday trip for 
you, but it may come yet. 
I think I must tell you some of my ideas of Dakota. 
Dakota, I may tell you, is about 400 miles from & 
to W. aud between 800 and 000 miles from N. to Si : 
quite a respectable little bit of country. This is all 
divided into counties, at least so much of it as is pur- 
veyed, but there is still lots of it wild. These a unties 
are generally about square or oblong, varying from 25 
to 50 miles in either direction. These again are di- 
vided iuio townships (corresponding to paruhes) of 6 
miles square, and contain 36 sections of laud, each one 
mile square. Thus, you will see, that the country is 
all divided off like a draught board, with roads cross- 
ing ono another every mile. So much for the divisi- 
ons. Now for the land. 
The Red River is the eastern bound iry'of the territ- 
ory and the town of Fargo is on the Dakota aid o of 
the river. It does m>t look much of a place in the 
woodcut, but it is growing amazingly, and now 
numbers between 4.000 aud 5,000 inhabitants. The 
land of the Red River valley is considered to bo tho 
tii'est out, for grain-growing. It is just about as flat 
as can be, all up the valley for about S or 9 miles on 
each sido of the river, and then it rises a little, and 
for 20 or .10 miles further west it is very simil.i ; 
only higher and drier. In tho summer, this does not 
make any difference, but in spring it is an advantage 
to get grain sown as enly as ono can. This last spring 
was an exceptionally late one, and many of the farm- 
ers near !he rivSf did not got any crop. When 1 
was there, I saw some miles with the water one to two 
f, , f. d.ep, Mi l the. -ceding was then almost over ..t 
our farm. What made the spring so Into was that there 
WW '<n unusually heavy fall of HfoW during t iu winter, 
and it did not thaw out till near tho end of April. 
Every other year that m> brother has beta the. , 
