78 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Aug. 2, 1886. 



outturn of Oeylou. Tea there has several advantages. 

 First is the excellent quality of the tea produced, said to 

 be equal to the very best Indian teas. Then an acre 

 in Ceylon will produce half as much tea again as it 

 will in India. The climate, too, is more to be depended 

 on for tea growinc: ; there is a good supply of labour, 

 and the tea can be more clieaply shipped. Tiai^lly, 

 Ceylon is growing tea on our experieuci's and will i>vc- 

 sumably avoid our past mistakes. With all these ad- 

 vantages it is clear that the prospects of Ceylon tea are in 

 the ascendent and that the expansion of tea-growing 

 there will continue to be rapid." — Lomlon Cor. 



ASSAM TEA COMPANY. 



Capital paid np i'187,160 in 9,358 shares of i'20 

 each. Area under cultivation 7,608 acres. Directors 

 Messrs. W. Prideaux, Chairman, Geo. TurnbuU, A. 

 B. Fisher, J. Graham, g.c, Geo. Paton, m.d., A. 

 Robinson, and Major-General Beadle. 



The following is the directors' report to be pre- 

 sented to the shareholders at the annual general 

 meeting to be held on the 7th prox., from which we 

 gather that the cost of manufacture and bringing 

 the tea to market in 1885 has been reduced to it 4-5d. 

 per lo. as compared with 10 l-.')d. per lb. in 1884 — a 

 rate that still leaves room we think for further 

 economy — while the gross sale price of the crop has 

 increased, the average realised in 1885 having been 

 Is. 05d. per lb. as compared with ll^d. per lb. in 

 1884. The crop gathered in 1885 was 32,35i) maunds 

 or 4,030 maunds less than the Superintendents estim- 

 ate, and 1,836 maunds below the outturn of 1884. 

 The yield per acre was 340 lb —and the profit shown 

 per acre just over f5 — which as the capitalised 

 value of the estates is but f25 per acre enables the 

 board to declare the handsome dividend of 20 per 

 cent. Last year's dividend was 14 per cent. It is 

 interesting to note that 7 years ago (in 1878) the 

 crop cost 16d per lb. and realised 21d. per lb., so 

 that while cost has been reduced 6d. per lb. the 

 value of crop has fallen 8d. per lb. : — To the Share- 

 holders of the Assam Company. Gentlemen, — Your 

 directors present to you their report of the operations 

 of the company for the year which ended December 

 31st, 1885. The whole of the crop of 1885 having 

 been sold, your directors have considered it expedient 

 to let you know the result of the working of that 

 vear without delay, hence the earlier date at which 

 this meeting is called. The average price obtained 

 for the crop of 1885 is Is. OSd. per lb., being IJd. 

 per lb. more than was obtained for the crop of 1884. 

 The quantity of tea packed and dispatched from 

 the gardens" during the past season amounted to 

 2,588,775 lb. which is 322,425 lb. less than the Super- 

 intendent's estimate, and 146,907 less than was packed 

 in the previous year. This short quantity was en- 

 tirely caused by very unfavourable weather during 

 the months of August and September which it is 

 believed produced the same result in nearly all the 

 tea plantations of Assam. The expenditure in India 

 during the year was t'99,697 12s., taking the rupee at 

 par or £'83,*268 19s. lid. after deducting the difference 

 in the rate of exchange, being fll.8U3 17s. 7d. less 

 than the expenditure of last year, and t'2,119 83. Od. 

 less than the Superintendent's esLiiiiate. The result 

 for the year stands thus:~- 

 Tea sales, gross proceeds . . . . iJl38,650 IG 5 



Tea seed sold in India 3,480 13 10 



Sundry receipts in India . . . . 1,949 3 7 



Interest and Sundries 258 6 4 



Expenditure in India 



in rupees at par . . £99,697 12 

 Less exchange. . .. 16,428 12 1 



fl44,.S.n9 2 



i-.s3,268 19 11 

 Expenditure in Eng- 

 land 22,940 i) 11 



Total Expenditure 

 Net profit . . 



106,209 9 10 



.. X 38.129 10 t 



The profit of the year therefore amounts to t'3H,129 

 10s. 4d., to which is to be added the balance carried 

 from 1884 of 1'1,376 19s. 9d., making a total of 

 f39,50() 10s. Id., out of which we propose to pay a 

 dividend at the rate of 2() per cent, and to carry 

 forward f2,074 10s. Id. In .January last we paid an 

 interim dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, and the 

 balance of 15 per cent, or f3 per share will be pay- 

 able on .July 1st. Mr. Phillips, our superintendent, 

 returned to his duties in November last. He estim- 

 ates the crop of manufactured tea for the current 

 season at 2,890,200 lb., and the expeiulitiire in India 

 at R1,082.1S9. During the absence of :\rr. Phillips, 

 the superintendence of our affairs in Assam was en- 

 trusted to Mr. Newington, and Mr. Phillips has 

 reported to us that on his return he found that Mr. 

 Newington had performed his duties as acting super- 

 intendent to his entire satisfaction. — Jf. <C- C. Mail. 



TEOPICAL FRinTS FOR THE ENGLISH 



MARKET : 



The West Indies .\t CovEKT-fiAEDEX. 



In that very useful volume entitled " Her Majesty's 

 Colonies," issued under the authority of the Royal 

 Commission for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 

 we are told that the colony of British Guiana is 

 suffering from the depreciation in the price of its 

 staple product — sugar. That is only too true ; but 

 while the attention of manufacturers and other con- 

 sumers in the United Kingdom is directed to its 

 timbers, ils fibres, its oils, and its gums, an 

 enterprising shipping tirin in the City has been 

 planning and experimenting, and laying the found- 

 ation of a new export lor the West Indian colonies, 

 as well as a new trade for themselves, the de- 

 velopment of which may, for all we know to the 

 contrary, he the discovery of that Eldorado which 

 the ill-fated Raleigh sought but failed to hnd 

 there. In the book quoted from above, mention 

 is made of many valuable products of the 

 colony of British Guiana, industries which if 

 called into existence and encouraged will largely 

 contribute to her wealth ; but no mention is 

 made of the fruits, because when the book was 

 written it was not considered possible to export the 

 many fruits which flourish upon the rich alluvial de- 

 posit which forms the coast and river banks of 

 Guiana, to the English markets, and export them, 

 moreover, in a ripe and yet perfectly fresh condition. 

 But steam and science have conquered the old limit- 

 ations of time and space ; and an old West Indian 

 firm, Scrutton, Sons & Co., of U, Graceehurch- 

 street, in the City, have been the first to apply these 

 to the development of what promises to be an im- 

 portant minor industry for our West Indian colories. 

 The competition in the sugar trade, caused by the 

 foreign bounty system, is now running these colonies 

 hard, and Messrs. Scrutton, Sons i'(- Co., likewise 

 men, have been casting about for a new trade to work 

 with the sugar, and it is to the fruits of the colony 

 that their attention has been directed. One of their 

 ships was recently fitted with special chambers for the 

 storage of the fruits, special machinery was designed 

 and fitted up for producing the necessary 

 temperature to preserve the cargo, and all was 

 ready for the experiments. The " Nonpareil" •' went 

 sailing away to the West ; " the " Nonpareil " has 

 come home again, and the experiment has been 

 successful beyond the expectations of the firm, 

 wliile fruit experts who visited the steamer on its 

 arrival expressed themselves highly pleased witli the 

 condition in which the fruit was landed. Mr. F. 

 Scrutton came down to the Fall Jfall (J(i:etti> oftice 

 withovit delay, bringing with him some beautiful 

 bananas, in fine mellow condition, and asked that 

 a representative of the paper should be sent down 

 to flip docks to report upon the result of tlie e\- 



