m 
THD TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Jan, 1, 1902. 
CINNAMON SALES IN LONDON. 
ADVANCE IN PRICES. 
The particulars received of the Quarterly 
Sale of Cinnamon held in London 
at the end of November, and pub- 
lished by us elsewhere, confirm the 
tenor of the private telegraphic intelli- 
gence we published some weeks ago. 
The very small proportion of which the finer 
qualities of bt.rk bore to the total offerings, 
explains the notable advance of Id. to 2d- 
per lb. which the leading marks obtained' 
The 291 bales catalogued as " worked," repre" 
sent the crops of the Kadirana Estates which 
have always secured top prices ; and Golua 
Pokuna, as a matter of course, stands first in 
the list. It is something to make the mouth 
of the Tea Planter water, to read of Firsts 
fetching Is; 8d. per lb,, and Seconds and 
Thirds realising respectively Is. 6d. and ls5d- 
while Fourths (the ' souchong ' of spice) com 
mand lOgd. But, then, there is no Maria- 
watte among Cinnamon Estates prospering 
on an outturn of 1,000 lb. a year ? The average, 
happily, is only about one tenth of that 
formidable figure, while the cost of produc- 
tion and cultivation must, we fancy, average 
above one-fourth of the gross prices realised 
in London. Even so, there has been over- 
production, through the opening of new 
land, and the conversion of paddy-fields, 
through raised ridges into Cinnamon gardens, 
with the result that prices receded fully 50 
per cent, and even as much as 66 for the 
coarser barks, during the 'seventies and 
'eighties. It is only during the last decade 
that prices have reverted to something ap- 
proaching those of thirty and forty years 
ago— to go no farther back to the time when 
cinnamon was a Government monopoly. The 
extent to which production has grown is 
evidenced by the fact that quilled bark is 
exported now to the extent of 2h million 
lbs. and upwards, while chips which were 
formally treated as refuse, or were used only 
for the distillation of oil, have run up to 
nearly two million lbs. in recent years. 
When we say that, in the first years of British 
rule, the exports (on which the duty at one 
time reached 3s. a lb.) seldom approaches 
half-a-million lbs., and that as late as 1850, 
the total quantity exported was only 
665,000 lbs. some conception may be 
formed of the wonderful development 
of the trade during the past half-century. 
Almost the sole uses to which the spice was 
put then, were connected with the culi- 
nary art and the preparation of incense for 
Roman Catholic worship in Europe. Since 
then it has been very widely used in confec- 
fectionery — notably chocolate creams and 
lozenges and in puddings and custards — in 
specially prepared cattle food (like Mr. 
Thorley's), in the sick room as an antiseptic 
vl recent discovery, though the natives from 
time immemorial burnt it to keep off flies 
and dropped a piece into boiling milk to 
keep it sweet, and in far larger quantities 
than before, both medicinally and in public 
worship. With all that, the supply is even 
yet somewhat in excess of the demand ; but, 
happily, there are two important factors 
which operate against a rush of over : pro- 
duction. Manuring coarsens the bark and 
readers it less valuable, so all the cultiva- 
tion the bush gets is from the burial of 
the leaves and weeds ; and, secondly, the 
manufacture of Cinnamon is a caste industry. 
The castes which consider themselves above 
the Chaliyas will not take part in the pre- 
paration, and thus the outturn is to a 
great extent limited by the available skilled 
labour which is now secured with difficulty 
under a demoralising system of advances 
with nmch resulting chicanery. 
To return to the last Quarterly Auctions 
for the year, which are generally the heavi- 
est, the quantity offered was more than 
double that brought to the hammer in 
August last, but almost the same as was of- 
fered at the corresponding sale in 1900.- Of this 
large quantity, the whole of the "worked" 
spice was sold outright, realising an aver- 
age advance of l^d a lb. ; and of the 1,399 
bales " unmarked"— i.e. not examined and 
repacked in London— 1,212 bales found buyers 
at a decline of about -Jd, which is a very 
moderate fall, considering tbe quantity 
cleared. The prices realised for the quillings 
and chips were also satisfactory ; and a yet 
further pleasant feature was the neglect of 
the fraud known as " wild cinnamon " which, 
as often as not, means bark of jungle bark 
other than Cinnaitionum Zeylanicum, but 
saturated in a decoction of cinnamoni chips. 
The statistical position of quilled bark being 
good, present prices ought to be maintained 
at the February sales unless there is a rush 
of spice into the London Market within the 
next few weeks. The following is the Report 
on the sale of the well-known firm of Messrs. 
Forbes, Forbes & Co., Ltd. :— 
London, E.G.. 26th Nov. 1901. 
Cinnamon.— The last auction for this year were 
held yesterday with an offering of 1,690 bales plan- 
tation quill, compared with 834 bales in August last 
and 1,687 August period last year. 
The " unworked " spice comprised 1,399 bales and 
" worked " quill 291 bales. 
With a good attendance of buyers there was im- 
proved competition, the 291 bales " worlied " being 
sold, firsts, seconds and thirds of the finer grades at 
about Ud average per lb advance. Fourths and 
lower qualities being steady. 
Of the " unworked " 1,212 bales sold, medium and 
common sorts at about Ad per lb average decline. 
"Worked" firsts range from lljd to 1/8 per lb 
seconds 10^ at 1/6, thirds 9id to 1/5 and fourths 
8d at lOJd per lb. 
" Unworked " firsts SJd at lid, seconds 8d at lOJd, 
thirds 7Jd at 9d and fourths 7d at 93 per lb. 
Of 762 packages quillings, &c., and chips about 
200 were cleared the former at 7d at lOd and the 
latter at 3id at 3Jd per lb. 
" Wild " Cinnamon, 207 bales and 56 baga were 
quite neglected. 
Stocks of Plantation 2,291 bales against 3,032 bales 
Do Chips 3,154 do 2,743 do 
Do Wild 2,408 do 2,446 do 
Do Bark & Chips 7,891 do 7,460 do 
She n^st sales will lie b§ld, 24tih Feb, 1902, 
