July  i,  1895.) 
THK  TROPICAL  AORICULTURIS  I’. 
5t 
time.  Not  for  the  Idfin/ical  offence  for  which  they 
had  been  previously  punished,  hut  for  a /'(r.v/i  hreacii 
of  the  same  eontra'ct.  Why  should  not  a servant, 
who  contracts  to  work  for  a period  of  ft  years,  he 
prosecuted  and  punished  on  each  and  every  occasion 
he  makes  a breach  of  the  contract How  otherwise 
is  it  possible  to  enforce  the  contract  ? If  the  con- 
tract is  determinable  by  the  misconduct  of  the  servant 
then  a contract  for  a specified  term  of  service  is  a 
farce.  If  a man  can  be  punished  more  than  once 
for,  say,  theft,  why  not  for  a statutory  offence  such 
as  desertion.  Both  Mr.  .Jardine  and  Mr.  Nicholas 
have  secured  a second  conviction  in  c.ases  of  repeated 
desertion.” 
[We  are  in  re(^eii>t  today  of  a long  and  in- 
teresting letter  from  the  most  experienced  ex- 
Cinnamon  planter  in  the  country,  wldcli  will 
appear  in  our  Monday's  issue. — El).  '1\  A.'] 
ma  t;  kebokt. 
(From  Clic/nint  and  Druf/rjist) 
l.uiuloii.  May  i)th. 
('.\i'i-lii.NK  seems  to  be  rather  les.s  firmly  held,  ft  Is 
true  that  the  manufactures  are  uuwillinf'  to  mention 
any  time  for  delivery,  although  ther  nominal  (piotation 
remaiirs  l.'is  to  ids  |)er  Ih  ; hut  we  have  it  on  good 
authority  that  one  brand  at  any  rate  may  lie  had 
from  second-hand  hohlers  for  delivery  in  about  six  week.s 
at  -'Is  per  lb;  on  the  s)iot  there  is  praetically  nolhing 
ohtainarde. 
(fuuiAMOMs— A fair  demand  was  shown  at  the  continua- 
tion of  the  auctions  on  Friday,  anti  of  "d  cases  offereil 
on  that  occasion  4;t  found  buyers,  but  there  was  no  change 
in  the  quotations;  fair  bold  yellow  Tellicherry  cardamoms 
sold  at  Is  9d  per  lb 
C'oc.AiNK— A .somewhat  weak  market  ; there  has  been 
no  alteration  in  the  ofticial  quotations,  but  it  would  not 
be  surprising  to  see  a further  drop  soon,  there  being  now 
several  holders  of  crude  cocaine,  some  of  whom  are  rather 
anxious  to  sell. 
CocuA  Bi  TTEit-  -At  the  public  auctions  held  in  .Amster- 
dam on  May  7th,  70,000  kilos  of  Van  Houten's  brand  .sold 
at  from  66  to  67J  cents  an  average  of  66  8-i  cents  per 
half-kilo  : the  tone  was  very  animated  ; at  auction  on 
hondon  May  7th,  'lOO  2-cwt  cases  of  Cadlmry's  lirand 
sold  at  12!i'd  to  12id  per  lb,  making  a decline  of  from 
id  to  fd  per  lb 
Ks.si;nti  u.  Oil.— Sales  of  l.i  tons  Citronella  oil  in 
drums  have  recently  been  made  at  l.'ipl  per  lb,  e i f for 
near-at-band  ; and  12.pl  per  lb,  c i f for  shipment  until 
the  end  of  August ; on  the  spot  Is  2pl  to  Is  3d  i.s 
asked  for  tins. 
(Jl'l.MNE— At  Friday's  drug  auctions  5,000  og  Auerbach 
quinine  were  to  have  been  offered,  but  this  parcel  was 
said  to  have  been  .sold  privately  Tiefore  the  sales  ; there 
has  been  no  business  in  the  .Mincing  I.ane  market 
thi.s  week,  and  there  are  sellers  of  tTcrman  bulk  at 
Is  per  07.. 
Vami-i.a— There  was  a fair  supply  of  good  quality  at 
the  last  auctions  It  realised  full  prices,  medium  gindes 
lieing  again  dearer  Fine  6 to  inches  brought  21s  Od 
to  24s;  5t  to  7j  inches,  16s  6d  to  Ibs  ; dark  and  chocolate, 
slightly  crystallised,  3.J  to  5.J  inches,  I6s  to  18s  6d  ; ordi- 
nary tiry  down  to  common  foxy,  from  1.5s  8d  down  to 
3s  3d  ])er  lb. 
CEYldlN  I'UODFCIE  IN  I.ONDON. 
CARD.AMOMS. — Of  the  total  of  nearly  400  cases 
offered  in  auction  last  week  about  :!20  cases  found 
buyers  at  previous  rates  to  a decline  of  Id  per  lb., 
as  follows  Mysore  kind  from  Ceylon,  line  bold 
jilump  pale  at  Os  3d,  rather  smaller  at  .3s  Id  to  3s 
‘2d,  boldish  pale  brihgt  at  2s  ttd,  medium  size  ditto 
at  2.S  4d  to  2s  od,  medium  bold  lean  part  yellowish 
at  2s  Id  to  2s  2d,  smaller  at  Is  ild  to  Is  lOd,  small 
brownish  at  Is  7d  to  Is  8d.  and  pickings  at  Is  4d 
to  Is  od  per  11).  Malabar  kind  from  Ceylon,  boldish 
pale  bright  at  Is  lOd,  medium  ditto  at  Is  7d  to  Is  8d, 
medium  size  dull  at  Is  5d,  small  brown  at  Is  2d  to 
Is  4d  per  lb.  Seeds  realised  Is  9d  to  Is  lid,  bold 
2s  Id  ]>er  lb. 
CINCHONA  BARK. — The  market  is  quiet,  and 
only  a few  small  transactions  have  taken  place 
privately. 
At  the  Amsterdam  auctions  yesterday  6,100  pack- 
ages Java  barks  were  offered,  and  met  with  a good 
demand,  about  4,000  packages  being  sold  at  an 
average  unit  of  2'92  cents.,  against  2.87  cents,  at  the 
last  series  ; private  sales  have  however  been  made 
in  the  interval  at  3 cents. 
The  following  are  the  Board  of  Trade  Returns 
lor  the  lir.st  four  months  of  this  and  the  last  tliree 
years  ’ — 
Lsib'i. 
(!wt. 
Imported  in  four 
months  . . 17,042 
Exported  in  four 
months  . . 13,.367 
18il4. 
C\Yt. 
1893.  1-S92. 
Cwt. 
22,48.5  38,4IQ 
31,372 
Cwt. 
.38,449 
42,192 
19,7.5.3  
SULPHATE  OF  QUININE.-The  inarket  has  be- 
come quiet,  and  business  is  Limited,  Sellers  of 
second-hand  German  ask  Is,  and  there  are  buyers 
at  Jl|d  per  oz.—  \i'ilsoii,  Smithett  <('■  Co.'s  Itniort, 
May  10th.  ^ 
PI.ANTINU  NOTES  FROM  DJKOV4  ARO 
MASK  ELI  YA. 
Tliere  Iiave  been  some  nice  .sliowens  in  tlie.--e 
districts  wliicli  Ifave  niaile  everything  Iqok  iqucl^ 
blighter  and  freslier ; hut  tliey  kepiq  to  liave 
little  or  potliing  of  t|ie  >yild  eaniestneas  of  tlip 
iHons<ion  ahcnit  thein,  and  are  of  a i(niet,  easy-going 
decoroips  cliaracter,  and  clear  otV  in  a blf^r  nii: 
expected  manner  ipst  wlion  one's  mind  is  made 
u|i,  lliat  aflei'  all  appearances  md \vi' lislamling, 
the  rain  iniist  he  llie  hig'iin,  taking  a preliminaiy 
canter.  Ihmhtle.ss,  however,  tliai  coming  evenls 
cast  their  shadows  hel'ore  and  ll>at  we  shall  have 
move  than  enough  of  wet  weather  sliortly, 
COCONUT  EIBRE  IN  AMEBTCA, 
THE  ONLY  VACTOny  IN  THE  t’NITED  .STATF-S, 
The  fibre  factory  of  the  Mobile  and  Honduras 
Mamif.icturing  Company  is  in  full  blast,  The  estab< 
li.shment  is  located  in  the  three-story,  treple-front 
building  on  the  west  side  of  Commerce  street,  just 
north  of  St.  Louis. 
This  is  not  only  the  largest  and  most  important 
coconut  fibre  plant  in  the  United  States,  but  the 
only  one.  There  was  a factory  of  the  same  sort  in 
California,  but  recently  it  burned.  It  was  not  the 
equal  of  this  factory  in  size  or  equipment,  nor  was  its 
location  a good  one.  The  coconut  fibre  used  there 
was  obtained  from  Samoa,  some  4,000  miles  away, 
while  the  product  was  sold  in  tlie  Eastern  states, 
fully  3,000  miles  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  Mobile 
factory  gets  its  fibre  from  the  islands  of  the  Carib. 
bean  sea.  distant  but  1,400  miles,  and  its  product 
can  be  sold  near  at  hand,  the  most  distant  points 
of  sale  being  not  more  than  800  miles.  The  product 
of  the  California  factory  had  a ready  sale,  and  it  is 
argued  from  this  that  the  Mobile  enterprise  will 
meet  with  success. 
The  fibre  is  brought  here  on  the  nnt  and  is  mani. 
pulated  until  it  can  be  used  for  all  the  purposes  for 
which  horse  hair  is  found  useful,  while  the  cost  is 
very  much  less  than  horse  hair.  The  principal  use  is 
that  of  stuffing  for  mattresses.  It  is  said  not  to  lump 
or  lose  its  shape  and  co  be  peculiarly  objectionable 
to  the  genus  eunex  leetularius. 
Ill  the  north  w'arelmuse  of  the  three  combined  in 
one  building  is  stored  the  stock  of  coconuts.  These 
are  taken  to  the  second  and  third  floors  by  a conveyer 
for  storage,  and  then  sent  down  to  the  first  floor, 
when  required,  by  means  of  chutes.  On  the  first 
floor  the  nuts  are  husked,  six  Jamaica  nee‘roes  pei'- 
forniing  this  work.  Each  has  a knife  something  like 
a big  chisel,  fixed  upright  in  a cast  iron  standard. 
To  husk  a nut,  the  busker  lifts  it  in  the  air  and 
brings  it  down  heavily  upon  the  knife,  so  that  the 
blade  sinks  into  the  liiisk;  then,  by  a wr#nching 
motion,  the  husk  is  riven  and  the  nut  falls 
out.  The  negroes  are  skilled  in  this  work  and 
are  very  quick  at  it.  They  were  all  living  here 
when  the  factory  started.  They  have  been  engaged 
for  some  months  in  husking  and  have  piled  the 
first  floor  to  the  ceiling  with  the  husks.  There  are 
about  140,000  coconuts  and  husks  in  stock,  a supply 
sufficient  to  run  the  factory  six  weeks. 
In  the  middle  warehouse  are  machines  for  clean- 
