August i, 1SS5.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



89 



Wo congratulate the fortunate shareholdera oa the 

 substantial proofs they receive of the good mauage- 

 nieut of their gardens — 15 per cent, dividends for 

 the past two years may well make the mouths of share- 

 hol<lcrs in the older corapmies water ! 



The Company's crop of tea was, we notice, 321 

 mauuds above the out-turn of 1SS3. 



The Ixdian Tea Company of Cachak, Limited. 



Capital, £94,060, in 0,40G shares of £10 each. Area 

 under cultivation, 79IJ acres. Dirtctors : Messrs. William 

 Duncin, C. A. Duncan, X. W. Powell, and W. H. 

 Simpson. 



The twenty-second annu.al meeting of the share- 

 hoMers in this company was held on the 2Sth ultimo 

 at the Company's office, v\hen the following report was 

 presented to them by the Directors : — 



The Company's gardens yielded, in ISS-i, a crop of 

 2,592 maunds of tea. The season commenced well ; 

 but in April there were several hail-storms, which cut 

 up the bushes badly, and for a short time plucking 

 had to be altogether stopped. For a mouth or two 

 afterwards the jield was small, but with favourable 

 weather, and less blight than usual, it improved later 

 on, and the season closed with an out-turn of 154 

 maunds more than in 1SS3. The progress of cultiv- 

 ation continues to show the propriety of gr.adually 

 abandoning the steeper parts of the " teelah " 

 laud of the old garden, and bestowing more labour 

 on, the planting and cultivation of flat land, which is 

 much more productive. During the year C4 acres of 

 new garden were planted on flat laud, and the 

 total area now under plant in 796 acres, of which 

 about TOO acres are in bearing. The machinery in the 

 garden continues to give satisfaction, and the supply 

 of labour is sufficient for the area under cultivation. 

 The gardens were inspected in January last by a 

 member of the firm of Messrs. Jardinc, Skinner & 

 Co., the Company's agents in Calcutta, and he reports 

 an improvement in tlie flat portions of the garden 

 since his former visit, the bushis having increased in 

 height as well as in breadth. As shown iu the an- 

 nexed accounts 2,516 maunds of tea have been 

 sold, leaving uusold 76 mauuds, and estimating 

 these to real'za £380, at £5 per mauud, the total 

 revenue f,ir the year amounts to £13,773 lis. Sd , 

 against a tola! outlay of £9,814 Ts. 5d., having a pro- 

 file of £.3,9.'59 4s. 3d , to w!:ich has to be added £501 Us. 

 7d,, brought forward from lastyear, m.iking an avail- 

 able balance of £4,4G0 18<. 101. The direct.irs recom- 

 mend that a dividend of 3J per cent, be declared free 

 of income tax : that £750 be added to the reserve fund 

 aud thut the balance reniaiuing at the credit of pro- 

 fit aud 1 ss be carried forward, 



Darjeeung Companv, Limited, 



The following is th« report of the Directors to b® 

 made at the meeting held on May Uth ;^ 



The Directors beg leave to eubmit. their Twomieth 

 Ani.ual Report on the operfttious of the Company dur- 

 ina the past year. 



The watlur during the manufacturing seaaou of 

 1884 was most variable and unfavourable for the pro- 

 puction of large quantities of fine leaf, and con- 

 SKpiently the tt-a made was far below the amount ex- 

 pected by the manager at Uarjecling when he pre- 

 pared hie estimate of the crop. For the same reason 

 the quality of the t?a at times was rath-r disappoint- 

 ing ; tome invoices were, however, received possess- 

 ing tine flavour, and realized excellent prices. 



The average rainfall on the plantation during the 

 past three seasons, up to Novembi:r9th in each year, 

 was US inches in 1882, 91 inches in l'*S3, and only 

 73 inches in 1884. 



Thu great depression in the value of all colonial 

 produce that has exiated »o long, has also been keenly 



felt in the tea market, and, under such adverse cir- 

 cumstances, the results that have been realized, as 

 indicated below, must be considered to be of a satis- 

 factory character to all parties interested in the Com- 

 pany's all'airs. 



The Directors would desire especially to draw 

 attention to the large savings effected in the expend- 

 iture in 1SS4. as compared with that in ISHJ, and tliis 

 was accomplished without in any way diiuiuishiug tho 

 efficiency of the labour staff, or curtailing the necess- 

 ary operations on the plant.ntions ; on the contrai'y, 

 the plantations aud everything connected with them 

 have been maintained in the highest state of elhcicney 

 and many important improvements of .1 permiincut 

 character have been carried out. 



The cash receipts in 1SS4 have fallen short of those 

 in 1883 by about £2,734, but, on tho other hand 

 the general expenditure in 1S81, as mentioned above, 

 was less than that in 1SS3 by £2,259, so that the 

 gross profits realized in 1SS4 have been only £475 

 less than in 1883. 



The particulars are given as follows, viz.: — 



Tho crop of tea of 1SS3 was 473,tjl0lb. 



„ „ 1884 473,206 „ 



Decrease in 1884 



The average price for 18.S3 crop Is (j-59d 

 „ ,, ltiS4 !.•> r,-iU\ 



Decrease in 1884 



The crop of tea, 1883, realized ...£35.927 



001 lb. 



1-lSd. 



1884, 



,.£33,975 



Total deereaco in receipts in 1831 .. 

 Outlay in Darjeeling in 1884 ... £18,296 

 „ „ 1883 ... £17,493 



Saving in 1S84 

 General outlay in 18S3 

 „ 1884 



, £4,803 

 , £3,755 



£3,734 



£803 



£1,018 



£408 

 £2,269 



Saving in 1884,.. 

 Insurance and charges on tea in 1883. ..£4,657 

 In urance and charges on tea in !884. ..£4,249 



Saving in 1844... 



Total savings effected in 1884 



Showing a balance against 1884 of only 

 The gross profits iu 1883 were ... 



1884 , 



Decrease iu 1884 



Tlie following comparative statements show at a glance 

 the operations of the Company during the past three 

 years : — 



Total OrT-TCRN op Tka and Cost at I'l.ANrATioNS. 

 In 1832, 1,534 acres, 566,102 lb. at 3691b. I!. 



£475 

 £12,299 

 £11,824 



£475 



per aero 



195,336 



In 1883, 1 ,502 acres, 473,810 lb. at 303 lb. per acre 182,965 

 I Iu ISS-l, 1,586 acres, 473,200 lb. at 2931b. per acre 174,932 



