Oct. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL ACIRICULTURIST. 
283 
THE LONDOiN (iUARTERLY CIN- 
MAMON SALES. 
THR SPANISH-AMKRICAN WAR DEPRESSING 
" CINNAMON." 
The reports wliieli have come to haad by this 
mail, as to the quarterly sales of cinnamon, held at 
the end of last month in London, reflect the situa- 
tion of the spice in the local market. Or rather, 
tliey explain the .slackness of tlie demand hero 
•which has been noted for the past lew months, 
as there can be no doubt tliat the market here is 
ruled by the prices which obtain iii London. 
This may be le.ss the case now, than it was when 
London was practically the sole emporium for the 
distribution of our spice. The opening of the Suez 
Canal, and the developmant of commercial enter- 
prise among continental nations, have combined 
fo divert much of the trade from London ; but 
still, Mincing Lane is a fair gauge of European 
prices, as the driect shipments from here to Euro- 
bean parts do not represent all the needs of the 
Continent. When we noticed the previous f|uar- 
terly sale, we pointed out the influence which 
the Hispano-American war was having on 
prices ; and the continuance of the war up 
10 a few weeks ago naturally continued to 
exercise a depressing effect on the market. Spain 
is one of the largest consumers of cinnamon in 
the world, having regard to its area and its 
population ; and if it is not actually tiie laigest, 
it certainly is the buyer that pays the highest 
prices. Our best marks of cinnamon have tor years 
past gone to Spain through London ; and the 
buyers for that country had established a sort of 
monopoly in securiog the best brands, and were 
so tenacious of keeping the trade in their own 
hands, that outside bids resulted m fancy 
prices. As a result, it was the 'oest brands which 
had to submit to tlie biggest fail ia prices. Li 
June, a fall of Id to 2d was recorded for them, 
as against an inajiprecialMC 'irop, or llie main- 
ts nance of fonuer prices, rn- or Jiiiary bark ; and 
we now read that, whereas ordinary to meumm 
sorts lost 4.1 per lb. on the June prices, tine 
qualities dropped fully Id, and the competition 
tor them dragged. 
These facts, and the further one tnat a little less 
than one-half the quantity ott'ereil found buyers 
at the auctions, eimstitute tlie dark side of 
the picture— although it must be remembered 
that the offerings were much larger than 
usual. The excess of more than half as 
much again as was ottered in June is noi 
significant, as the third sale in the year is always 
heavier than the .second ; but the quantity cata- 
logued was much larger than that offered at 
the corresponding sale last year, which wtis 
heavy enough ; and that diould in itself explain 
a slight fall. Another cheering fact, apart from 
the maintenance of prices and the in.i]3preciab e 
lall for ordinary bark, which constitutes the bulk 
of our output, is tliat chips ran up to prices 
which we believe were never lietore reO' hed— 
the average having for a long time been 2d to 3d 
— and th.it cliupings fetched 8A to 9d. iNot very 
Ion" .ago 5d to 6 1 used to be cousiileied a good 
price for clippings— the ends nnd trimmings oil 
quills ; but here we have chips lelclmig nearly 
that figure ! The inferciive is that there is a 
steady demand for spice of ordinary quality, and 
if Spain is able to resume her orders— as wo hope 
she may, after tlie resumption of trade, althougii 
it may be a little doubtful,— the liner qualities will, 
we trust, be in better demand, and prices all round 
look up. We say this, without meaning that tke 
ruling rates are disappointing. They are almost 
50 per cent, higher than the rates which ruled 
for years in the eighties and even in this decade. 
We referred to the shifting of trade from 
London in recent years. Last year, the United 
Kingdon!, which once almost monopolized our 
spir-e market, took about ll-26ths of our total 
experts — 1,169,190 lb, of quilled cinnamon, out 
of an output of 2,674,537 lb. Every European 
country, except Kussia, Sweden and Turkey, 
took our spice direct— Spain putting in a direct 
claim fcr 270,760 lb,, and coming in third, with 
Germany second with 686,588 lb. The exports 
up to date this year are in excess of those for the 
correspontling months of last year, and that means 
of any year ; but the United Kingdom has taken 
only about one-third of the exports — 583,310 lb. 
out of 1,676,274 — and Spain only 97,500 lb, direct. 
Germany, however, accounts for 465,577 lb. (not 
far behind the United Kingdom) ; while America 
has forged ahead, coming third with no less 
than 229,687 lb., as agaiiust only 109,828 lb. for 
the whole of last year. Ameiica would thus seem 
to be resolved to conquer Spain even in the 
peaceful pursuit of consuming cinnamon ! May 
she hold her own there too ! 
The toliowuig is the ileport of a leading London 
iirm in the trade : — 
Loudon, Aug. 31, 1898. 
CINNAMON. 
The quarterly auctions were held on Monday last, 
wneu 1,517 bales Ceylon were brought forward against 
9.59 bales in June and 1,393 bales at this period last 
year. There was again a lack of orders from Spanish 
buyers and the sales went off with a dull tone, 
about 720 baloi only being cleared. On the average, 
ordinary to mediuiu sorts met a decline of -Jd per lb., 
and good to fine qualities ruled fully Id per lb. 
cheaper with a dragging competition. Medium to 
superior " worked " firsts brought lid to Is 4d, 
ditto sr=couds 9gd to Is 3d, fair to superior, thirds 
lOd 10 Is '2d .nnd fourlhii frori 7d to is per lb. 
Of the GGi b.des nuworked '' qnill only a small 
poi-tion sold :— Fii-sts Sd to Is : Seooc'ls 7d to Bid: 
Thirds "id to S^d ; and Jfouitiis 7d to Su per lb. 
VVe nad to Ouy in a few lots for Wuiit of fair offers. 
Of Cinnamon chips, &c., only MO bags offered arid 
sold at 3d to 5:jd for common to line, and chippiugs 
8i to 9d per lb. 
Stock of Ceylon 1.068 bales against 2,869 in 1897, 
2,371 in IbOO, and 2,292 bales in 1895. 
The next auctions are fixed for 28tb November. 
A RUBBER EXniACTOR. 
One of the objections to the method of collect- 
ing rubber by aborginals, whether in New Guinea 
or in otlier rubber-producing countries, is the crude- 
ness of those methods. Ail .sorts of extraneous 
matter aie mixed with the product, and lengthy 
processes have to be adopted to turn out a pure 
article in iiist-class marketable condition. We 
seem to have now arrived at a point when in- 
vention will master all such dilhcuUie.s. At au 
Agricultural Exhibition at Trinidad recently held' 
in that colony, a most interesting exhibit was to 
be seen in working order in tlielJotanial Depai tnienc 
in ihesbajieof a new iinchiiie for tlie extniction ot 
rubber irom the hde.c or milk of the Ca^tillva 
tree. In two minutes the lubber was separated, 
and then was set to dry. In the sj>ai;e of three 
hours, sheets or slabs of tine, clear, marketable 
rubber were prodiicetl, free from the u^ual amount 
of proteid and albumeiioid matters which are 
usually found in rubber produced by the ordinary 
rocess. — Queensland Af/ricuKural Journal. 
