Price Of Ivory Nuts.

WE have learned, on inquiry among some of the Islands’ agents who handle ivory nuts from the Solo mon Islands, that the principal reasons why the market for this commodity is uncertain and unsatisfactory, are the bad packing of the ivory nuts and the lack of care shown in their selection.

It appears that ivory nuts are likely to be affected by insects and by decay, and if care is not taken in the selec tion of the nuts before they are packed in bags, it may happen that the buyer, on opening up the consignment in his factory in Japan, will find that a con siderable portion of the nuts, for which he may have paid anything from £9 to £12 per ton, are quite useless. This has happened on a number of occasions during the past couple of years, with the result that buyers are now not at all ready to purchase ivory nuts from planters or traders whom they do not know. But ivory nuts sent into the Sydney market by men who are known to carefully select and pack them can usually be sold at a good price without much trouble.