TRADE TOPICS.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14839, 3 December 1913, Page 12

TRADE TOPICS.

(f ROM OCR OWN CQBMSrOXMNT.) LONDON, October 24. " PAN A-MA DEVELOPMENT. With the approaching completion of the Panama Canal it is very likely that the trade figures of Panama will begin to chow some decline. The import trade is five times greater than the export, and manifestly its size is due to the needs of labour employed on the construction of the waterway. The withdrawal of this constant demand will make considerable difference to the retail trade unless tourist traffic, which is being cultivated, grows or the shipping trade which will pass through tho canal brings increased business. Lasting improvement on imports and exports <au, oi course, only bo expected with the development of the resources of tho country. When the native labour now freed from the canal returns to the soil, indigenous products may bo cultivated to a greater extent. About half the imports are foodstuffs, and these might, it seems, belcultivated locally. The development of Panama will be in the cultivation of tropical products, for which the, country is well suited.

POSTCARD DECREASE. It was in 1870 that postcards first appeared in England, but they never became really popular till thirty years later. Then they conquered Europe ,n the picture-postcard craze of the last few years, and now they are apparently giving way to the telephone. It is recorded in the Postmaater-General's unnual report: "For the first time for many years there has been an actual decrease in the number of postcards delivered compared with the previous year, though the number is still considerably higher than in 1910-11. The. decline Is general throughout the Kingdom except in London."

EGYPTIAN COTTON CROP. Since 1877 the Nile has never been so low as this year, and in that year tho water at Assouan was more than a meter and a half higher than at present Had it not been for the Assouan Dam four-fifths of the cotton crop would havo been lost. The want of water has done much dama"ge, particularly in the Upper Egypt, where, in spite of the dam at Assiut and Esxneh, districts of an area of about 400,000 feddan have had all the crop destroyed for wane of water. The cotton crop, however, is estimated at 7,500,000 cantare, about the same as the last two years, as in other districts harvest has been abundant.

VINTAGE OF 1913. Owing to the froete which prevailed in April and the rather bad summer l'or 4 vines, tho champagno vintago lias beta' a late one. The quantity will be very small, but it is horded that the wine made will be of fair quality. Tho quantity o£ port will be less than usual, but indications point to the making, of a souud, useful vintage for general purposes, the cherry yield wili be a moderate one, but the quality should be fine as tho vintage has been made under favourable conditions. TUo summer has not been favourable to the Burgundy vineyards or to the German hoefc and moselle wine-growing districts. An average vintage as regards quantity and quality is expected in Madeira, and the quality of the Cognac crop will prove good. SHARP DECLINE IN MAIZE. There is little doubt that some large losses have been -experienced in .the Liverpool maize market, though, it is stated, they are bom© by firms well able to stand them. Quotations have been steadily falling for the past five or six weeks, with th» weakness particularly pronounced during last week. The liquidation has been mostly in near positions, especially spot, the large arrivals.! owing to the reserved attitude, of consumers, leading to further accumulations. Similar indications appear to prevail on the Continent, advices from Rotterdam indicating that there is little or no demand tot feeding stuffs at present. It is considered that the continuation of mild weather is largely responsible for the ix>or consumptive demand, but, Apart from this, there is no donbt that large arrivals are causing buyers to move with caution.

[ COCONUT OIL. The rise in the price of copra is at- [ tracting considerable attention in I business circles. The commercial importance of copra begins and ends with [tho oil it contains. Certain industrial chemists on the Continent succeeded in effecting the entire elimination of tie clinging coconut taste peculiar to the oil, and the tendency to sour rapidly. By these discoveries "ttaruse of coconut oil has been made possible in pharmaceutical compounds, such as ointments, pomades, and the like, in place of animal fats, whereas before the new processes were known chemists deemed its use dangerous in view of the proneriess to rtwieidity. It is also now found %ipon the dining-table in the fornj of salad oil, though few diners may be aware oi the fact; and no doubt few of the young ladies who unhesitatingly pronounce delicious the white "cream** of chocolate creama know that this, too, is often now made of coconut oil. Similarly, the new pil has been found almoet as effective in pulmonary and kindred ailments as is cod-liver oil, being at the same time far easier to administer and to assimilate, while decidedly more palatable Then it was used for lard and margarine. The demand for conra is such that it has gone un from £12 per ton to £48 pra* ton. ' «v far, there has been little increase of the area under coconut cultivation, and over-production is not probable.

NEW SALT PROCESS. A new industry has been established at Carrickforgus, in Ireland, by the perfection of a process for refining salt by fire. Since time immemorial salt has been refiued by evaporation; the new system consista of melting the rock salt in a patent cold air passing through the furnace when it b at a certain temperature and driving all the impurities of the salt to the bottom. The* salt itself runs <mt of the furnace into rotary pans in the form of a pinkish liquid," and is immediaateW crystallised, the- size of the crystals depending on the speed at which the pans revolve. The salt is packed hot, and is suitable for table, dairy, ciiring, and other purposes. Ono advantage which is claimed for the new system over the old i 9 that one ton of coal is sufficient for the production of twelve tons of salt. Ono ton of coal produces only two -tons of salt by tho pumping and evaporating process.