THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS
OF THE
VEGETABLE KINGDOM,
Considered in their Various Uses to Man and tn Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures;
Forming a
Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference
for the
Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer,
on the
Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c.
of the Various Substances Obtained from
Trees and Plants,
Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.
BY P.L. SIMMONDS,
HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL SOCIETIES OF JAMAICA, BRITISH GUIANA, ANTIGUA, BARBADOS, KONIGSBERG, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, NATAL, THE NEW YORK STATE SOCIETY, THE NOVA SCOTIA CENTRAL BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, THE SOCIETIES FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE IN PHILADELPHIA AND NEW ORLEANS; ONE OF THE EDITORS OF "JOHNSON'S FARMER'S ENCYCLOPÆDIA;" MANY YEARS EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF THE "COLONIAL MAGAZINE," &c. &c.
MDCCCLIV.
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
- African Steam Ship Company, 3, Mincing Lane
- Archbell, J., Esq., Pietermaritzburg, Natal
- Assam Company, 30, Great Winchester-street
- Aubert, Honourable J.M.A., M.C., St. Lucia
- Botanical Society (the Royal), Regent's Park
- Burton, C.H., Esq., 133, Fenchurch-street
- Boddington, Messrs. & Co., 9, St. Helen's Place
- Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Bristol
- Brown, Messrs. & Co., 4, Pancras Lane
- Begg, Thomas, Esq., 3, Corbett Court, Gracechurch-street
- Bow, J.B. De., Editor of Commercial Review, New Orleans
- Breede, L. Von, Esq., Natal
- Breen, H.H., Esq., St. Lucia
- Barbados General Agricultural Society
- British Guiana Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society
- Browne, Hunter & Co., Messrs., Liverpool
- Bagshaw, John, Esq., M.P., Cliff House, Harwich
- Berry, Richard L., Esq., Chagford, Devonshire
- Blyth, Messrs., J. & A., Steam Engine House, Limehouse
- Blyth, Philip P., Esq., 23, Upper Wimpole Street
- Brown, Messrs. Robert & Co., 25, Lawrence Pountney Lane
- Carmichael, Sir James, Bart., Sussex Gardens
- Christopher, J.S., Esq., 26, Coleman-street
- Challis, Alderman, 32, Wilson Street, Finsbury
- Childs, R.W., Esq., 26, Coleman Street
- Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society
- Campbell, C.T., Graham's Town, Cape of Good Hope (3 copies)
- Central Board of Agriculture, Halifax, Nova Scotia (5 copies)
- Crum, H.E., Esq., (Messrs. J. Ewing & Co's.,) Glasgow
- Clegg, T., Esq., Manchester
- Carleton, Percival A., Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, Bahamas
- Davis, Messrs. T.E. & W.W., manufacturers, 159 and 160, Whitechapel Road
- Dinneford, Messrs. & Co, 172, New Bond-street
- Denoon, Messrs. D. & Co., 6, Adam's Court, Old Broad-st.
- Decasseres, Phineas, Esq., Falmouth, Jamaica
- Dod, Francis, Esq., Savanna le Mar, Jamaica
- Duke, Sir James, M.P., Portland Place
- Dunbar, Messrs. D., & Sons, 95, Fore-street, Limehouse
- Dennistoun, Messrs. J. & A., Glasgow
- Drysdale, Hon. J.V., Colonial Secretary, St. Lucia
- Drumm, Mr. W., Chemist, Barbados (12 copies)
- Ede, Francis, Esq., Great Winchester-street
- Ede, Limbrey, Esq., merchant, Winchester-street
- Edmonds, E.,
WORKS CONSULTED.
- SIMMONDS'S COLONIAL MAGAZINE, 15 vols.
- PORTER'S TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.
- PAXTON'S BOTANICAL DICTIONARY.
- LAWSON'S MERCHANT'S MAGAZINE, 2 vols.
- PROFESSOR ROYLE, on the Productive Resources of India.
- CRAWFORD'S HISTORY OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, 3 vols.
- LOGAN'S JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, 3 vols.
- REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY,
in regard to the Cultivation and Manufacture of Cotton, Wool, Raw Silk, and Indigo in India. - JOURNAL OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
- MILBURN'S ORIENTAL COMMERCE.
- URE'S DICTIONARY OF ARTS AND MANUFACTURES, AND SUPPLEMENTS.
- CHASE'S HISTORY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
- PROFESSOR BALFOUR'S MANUAL OF BOTANY.
- DUPON'S TRAVELS IN SOUTH AMERICA, 2 vols.
- COUNT DANDOLO on the art of Rearing Silk Worms.
- JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 7 vols.
- PRIDHAM'S HISTORY OF CEYLON
PREFACE.
The objects and purposes of the following Work are fully set forth in the introductory chapter; but I may be permitted to remark here, that its compilation and arrangement have occupied a very large share of my time and attention, and I can therefore assert with confidence, that it will be found the most full and complete book of the kind that has ever yet appeared. It is not a mere condensation from Encyclopædias, Commercial Dictionaries, and Parliamentary and Consular Reports; but is the fruit of my own Colonial experience as a practical planter and of much laborious research and studious investigation into a class of
Few are aware of the great labor and research required for digesting and arranging conflicting accounts—for consulting the numerous detached papers and foreign works treating of the subjects embraced in this volume, and for referring to the home and colonial trade circulars, Legislative papers, and scientific periodicals of different countries. The harassing duties appertaining to the position of City editor of a daily paper, coupled with numerous other literary engagements, have afforded me insufficient time to do full justice to the work while passing through the press; and several literal typographical errors in the botanical names have, I find, escaped my attention in the revision of the sheets. I have, however, thought it scarcely necessary to make a list of errata for these. From want of leisure, to reduce all the weights and measures named in the body of the work into English, I have given their relative value in the Index. I have taken considerable pains to make the Index most full and complete, for it has always appeared to me, that in works embracing a great variety of subjects, facility of reference is of paramount importance.
Some discrepancy may here and there be found between the figures quoted from Parliamentary returns and those derived from private trade circulars; but the statistics are accurate enough for approximate calculations.
Whilst the work has been passing through the press, several important modifications and alterations have been made in our Tariff.
I have throughout found great difficulty in obtaining commercial information from the various Colonial brokers and importers of the City, who, with but few exceptions, have been stupidly jealous of any publicity respecting the staples in the sale of which they were specially interested. The greatest fear was expressed lest any details as to the sources of supply, stocks on hand, and cost prices of many of the minor articles, should transpire. After the results of the Great Exhibition, the exertions making to establish Trade Museums, and the prospect of information to be furnished at the new Crystal Palace, this narrow-minded and selfish feeling seems singularly misplaced.
I had not originally contemplated touching upon the grain crops and food plants of temperate regions; but the prospect of a failure in our harvest, the disturbed state of political affairs on the Continent, with short supplies from Russia and the Danubian provinces, and the absence of any reliable statistics and information for convenient reference on this all-important subject, added to the recommendations of one or two well-informed correspondents, induced me to go more into detail on the Food-plants and Breadstuffs than I had at first intended, and to treat very fully upon Wheat, Barley, Potatoes, and other subsidiary food crops. This has trenched somewhat largely on my space; and although the volume has been swelled to an unexpected size, I am reluctantly compelled to omit some few Sections, such as those treating of elastic and other Gums, Resins, &c.; on tropical Fruits; and on textile substances and products available for cordage and clothing. The latter section, which includes Cotton, Flax, Jute, &c., and embraces a wide and important range of plants, I propose issuing in a separate volume at an early date, with a large fund of statistical and general information.
Among those gentlemen to whom I acknowledge myself most indebted for valuable suggestions or important information, are my friends Sir R.H. Schomburgk, British Consul at St. Domingo, and Mr. R.
P.L. SIMMONDS.
5, BARGE YARD, BUCKLERSBURY,
December, 1853.