THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  i,  1892. 
"582 
WHAT  IS  OUR  STOCK  OF  QUININE? 
Sik,— With  reference  to  your  interesting  note  of 
August  27  under  the  heading  “ What  is  our  Stock 
of  Quinine  ?”  supposing  the  number  of  cases  to  be 
correct,  the  net  weight  is  considerably  over-estimated. 
The  weight  of  a case  of  10  tins  of  100  oz.  each  B & 
S.  for  Aderbach  quinine  is  as  near  as  possible  1 cwt. 
1 qr.,  more  often  a few  pounds  over  than  less,  while 
2 cases  of  five  100-oz.  tins  each  of  Brunswick  go 
about  145  lb.  gross  total.  The  contents  of  2,550  cases 
should  therefore  not  be  estimated  at  over  1,750,000  oz., 
and  would  probably  weigh  less,  as  we  have  to  make 
a reduction  for  smaller  packages,  such  as  25-oz.  tins 
and  1-oz.  vials.  There  must  be  a fair  amount  of  the 
latter  (Howards’  and  Pelletier’s),  and  the  tare  of  a 
case  of  100  oz.  net  weighs  probably  nearer  56  lb. 
than  28  lb. 
The  stocks  at  Smiths’s  warehouses  have  decreased 
for  years,  and  if  we  add,  for  safety’s  sake,  1,250,000  oz. 
for  Smith’s  & Bull  wharves — a figure,  in  my  opinion, 
very  considerably  in  excess  of  the  actual  stocks  there 
— we  get  at  a total  stock  of  3,000,000  oz.  in  London. 
We  have  very  little  stock  of  suitable  barks  to  fall 
back  upon  should  the  regular  supplies  be  interrupted, 
and  a stock  of  3,000,000  oz.  of  quinine  is  just  enough 
to  protect  the  trade  against  very  violent  fluctuations. 
In  any  case  it  should  not  frighten  the  most  timid 
holder,  and  your  statement  that  stocks  have  actually 
decreased  during  the  biggest  years  of  production 
shows  that  quinine  is  slowly  working  into  a very  sound 
position  indeed.— Yours  faithfully, 
H.  Buchleb. 
Dunster  House,  Mincing  Lane,  E.C.,  Aug.  30- 
WHAT  IS  OUB  STOCK  OP  QUININE  ? 
In  our  correspondence  columns  will  be  found  a 
letter  from  a well-known  operator  in  quinine,  who 
states  it  as  his  opinion  that  our  estimate  of  3,500,000  oz. 
as  the  net  weight  of  our  stock  of  quinine  in  the  Dock 
Company’s  warehouses  is  much  too  high.  With  re- 
gard to  our  correspondent’s  estimate  of  the  stock  of 
quinine  at  Smith’s  warehouses  and  Bull  Wharf  (the 
two  other  chief  points  of  storage  in  London)  at 
1,250,000  oz.,  we  should  think  that  that  is  much  in 
excess  of  the  actual  fact.  Very  little  quinine,  so  far 
as  we  are  aware,  has  been  imported  into  either  of 
these  two  warehouses  since  1887  or  1S88,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  old  stocks  there  have  been  constantly 
drained  by  deliveries  to  consumers.  Our  correspon- 
dent himself,  we  believe,  has  not  entered  a single 
package  of  quinine  at  Smith’s  warehouse  for  the  last 
five  years,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  gather,  the  only 
quinine  importers  who  are  regularly  in  the  habit  of 
consigning  their  imports  to  Bull  Wharf  are  the  agents 
for  a brand  which  has  practically  been  out  of  the 
market  ever  since  the  German  makers  began  to  un- 
dersell one  another.  It  is  doubtful,  therefore,  whether 
the  total  stocks  outside  the  dock  warehouses  would  do 
more  than  account  for  the  difference  between  the 
figures  mentioned  by  ourselves — viz.,  3,500,000  oz.— 
and  Mr.  Buchler’s  estimate  of  3,000,000  oz. — Chemist 
and  Druggist,  Sept.  3. 
FIBRE  INDUSTRY  AT  THE  BAHAMAS. 
( Agave  rigida,  var.  Sisalana.) 
The  development  of  an  important  fibre  industry 
at  the  Bahamas  has  already  been  the  subject  of 
notes  in  the  Kew  Bulletin  ( see  March  1889,  p.  57, 
and  October  1889,  p.  254.) 
As  indicating  the  character  of  the  industry  from 
an  American  point  of  view  the  following  Report 
prepared  by  the  United  States  Consul  at  Nassau 
at  the  beginning  of  this  year  will  be  read  with 
interest.  This  Report  is  reproduced  exactly  as  it 
appears  in  the  “Deports  from  the  Consuls  of  the 
United  States,’’  No.  114,  March  1890:— 
CONDITION  OF  THE  SISAL  INDUSTEY  IN  THE  BAHAMAS. 
BEPORT  BY  CONSUL  MCLAIN,  OF  NASSAU. 
One  year  ago  I made  a report  to  the  Department 
upon  the  culture  of  Sisal  hemp  in  this  colony, 
calling  attention  to  it  as  a new  industry  just  being 
introduced,  and  which  promised  to  bring  substantial 
Prosperity  to  these  islands  in  the  near  future. 
During  the  year,  and  especially  within  the  last 
few  months,  so  many  letters  have  been  received  at 
this  Consulate  from  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  making  inquiries  upon  the  subject,  that  I 
am  satisfied  a statement  touching  the  present  condition 
of  the  industry  would  interest  many  of  our  people, 
and  I therefore  submit  the  following: — 
The  progress  made  in  the  development  of  Sisal 
culture  in  the  Bahamas  during  the  past  twelve  months 
is  marvellous.  One  year  ago  there  was  scarcely  a 
dollar  of  foreign  captial,  and  very  little  local,  invested 
in  this  business  in  the  colony,  while  to  day  parties 
from  Great  Britain,  Canada,  and  Newfoundland,  re- 
presenting large  resources,  are  interested  in  Sisal,  have 
bought  tens  of  thousands  of  acres  of  Government 
land,  and  are  industriously  engaged  in  clearing  and 
planting  the  same  to  the  full  measure  of  their 
ability  to  procure  the  material.  A local  stock  com- 
pany,  styled  the  Bahama  Hemp  Company,  organised 
and  managed  by  Nussau  capitalists  exclusively,  has 
also  purchased  a large  tract  of  land  and  is  developing 
the  same,  whilst  thousands  of  acres  are  being  plant- 
ed in  every  direction  by  individual  owners  of 
smaller  pieces.  American  capital  up  to  this  date, 
I regret  to  say,  for  it  is  to  its  own  disadvantage, 
has  been  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  One  company, 
however,  styled  the  Inagua  Hemp  Company,  organised 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  with 
D.  D.  Sargent,  United  States  Consular  Agent  at 
Inagua.  as  manager,  has  lately  procured  about  1,200 
acres  at  Inagua,  and  has  begun  operations. 
Messrs.  Munro  & Co.,  of  St.  John’s,  Newfound- 
land, have  obtained  a grant  of  18,000  acres  of  Crown 
land  at  Abaco,  and  are  planting  the  same.  Another 
tract  of  20,000  acres  has  been  allotted  to  a London 
company  on  the  same  island.  Mr.  Alex,  Keith,  of 
Edinburgh,  Scotland,  has  taken  2,000  acres  on 
Andros  Island,  and  is  working  upon  it.  But  the 
largest  demand  has  been  made  lately  by  two  London 
companies,  who  are  said  to  be  applying  for  not 
less  than  200,000  acres  between  them. 
Many  applications  for  land  have  not  been  reached 
at  all  as  yet  on  the  files,  the  Surveyor-General’s 
Department  being  hard  pushed  in  the  matter  of 
surveys  and  locations,  whilst  applications  are  being 
constantly  received,  and  have  to  wTait  their  turn  of 
consideration.  So  much  land  has  been  taken  up 
that  the  Governor,  a short  time  ago,  advanced  the 
price  of  Crown  land  from  $1'25  per  acre,  the  ordinary 
price,  to  §4  per  acre,  withholding  also  the  benefit 
of  the  bounty.  And  lately  it  has  been  decided  to 
sell  no  more  large  allotments  of  Crown  land  at 
present,  the  quantity  already  allotted  with  a view  to 
cultivation  being  as  great  as  the  condition  of  labour 
in  the  colony  will  justify.  The  number  of  acres 
of  Crown  land  already  disposed  of  is  about  120,000 
acres,  whilst  pending  applications  on  file,  and  not 
yet  reached,  will  amount  to  at  least  200,000  more. 
This  substantial  withdrawal  of  Crown  lands  is 
creating  some  movement  in  real  estate — as  is  natural 
under  the  circumstances — between  private  parties, 
some  old  properties  changing  hands  at  prices  double 
and  treble  their  supposed  values  two  years  ago. 
Persons  buying  private  lands  and  cultivating  them 
w il  share  in  the  bounty  of  1 per  cent,  per  pound 
provided  by  law  on  all  fibre  raised  and  exported. 
Private  lands  in  New  Providence  can  be  bought, 
unimproved,  for  from  §8  to  $12  per  acre,  and  for 
less  on  the  out-islands. 
The  employment  given  to  labourers  in  clearing 
land  and  in  setting  out  plants  has  already  put  con- 
siderable money  into  circulation,  the  beneficial  effects 
of  which  are  being  felt  in  varous  quarters.  There 
has  been  no  special  advance  in  the  price  of  labour, 
field  bands  commanding  from  40  to  60  cents  per  day, 
and  finding  themselves.  Each  month,  however,  wit- 
nesses a large  increase  in  the  number  of  those  who 
find  remunerative  employment,  and  pleasant  relations 
obtain  between  employers  and  employed.  The  labour 
question  has  been  and  is  one  that  here,  as  elsewhere, 
requires  delicate  treatment ; but  it  has  been  skilfully 
met  by  Sir  Ambrose  Shea,  the  Governor,  who  long 
ago  perceiving  that  to  permit  investors  to  locate  upon 
adjoining  lands  would  induce  sharp  competition  in 
