( 12 ) 



"-'28,437 pounds sold in London netted £8,61!) Os 7<1 ; S - 67 per 

 pound. Prices have been steady during the year, and 

 quality of Tea has been well maintained : the 3ales during 

 the last half of the year have, however, averaged consider- 

 ably higher than during the corresponding period of the 

 previous year, which points at a better demand for high- 

 class Teas. The average rate of exchange has been Is 13-64d 

 against Is 4 7-32d last year. Mr W Herbert Addersou re- 

 tires from the Board, and, being eligible, otfers himself for 

 re-election. The latest reports from the Manager in Ceylon 

 show that Estates, Buildings and Machinery are in good 

 onler, and the estimates of crop and expenditure give satis- 

 factory promise of the Tea being placed in the market at 

 present rates. The Directors feel that great credit is due 

 t© Mr K C Grant, the Manager, and Mr H A Grigg, the 

 .Superintendent in Ceylon, for the way in which they have 

 cultivated the Estates and maintained the quality' of the 

 Tea during the past year.— By Order of the Board, Shank, 

 Hat. Dane & CO., Secretaries. 



NORTH-WESTERN RUBBER CO., 

 LIMITTED. 



DIRECTORS. 



T lie Hon. Mr. Edward Roslini; (Chairman and Manag- 

 ing Director.) 

 K. K. Clark, Esq. I H. VV. (Imwin, Esq. 



Edmund Scott, Esq. | James hill, Esq. 



ACREAGE. 



PlTIAKANDE GROUP. MORATENNE GROUP. 



Tea and Coconuts 368 acres. Tea .. .. 110 acres. 



Cacao .. 44 , , Cacao .. .. 55 „ 



Cacao and Rubber 80 ,, Chena, Grass, 

 Rubber . . 80 ,, etc. 506 ,, 



.Jungle and Chena 



Land .. 4'7 ,, 



Total .. 989 acres. Total .. 071 acres. 



The Directors herewith submit their Report and Ba- 

 lance Sheet for the nine months ending 31st December, 

 1905. The Company took over the Estates belonging 

 to the Kurunegala Estates Company, Limited, as from 

 the 1st April, 1905, and have since purchased St. 

 Julia, Bulatawella, and Bettiagodde Estates, amounting 

 to 450 acres for a sum of K33.405-47. The working for the 

 nine months after charging up all the Manure, Interest, 

 Directors, and Agent's fees, shows a loss of R2,150'10, 

 but as nothing is being charged to Capital on account of 

 Coconuts not in bearing, the loss is more apparent than 

 real. Crops secured for the nine months were as follows : 

 —Tea 84,703 1b., Cocoa cwt. 230-2-6, Coconuts 181,927. 



The estimated crops for the current year are 125,000 lb. 

 tea, 250,000 coconuts, 250 cwt. cacao which, after paying 

 cost of upkeep of the young nuts, should have a small 

 proti t on the working account. Last year some 80 acres 

 cacao and 67 acres forest land were "planted with Rub- 

 ber which, with the 13 acres planted in 1904, make 160 

 acres under that product. On account of the current 

 year 450 acres have been felled (for Rubber) and burnt 

 i.tf and the works on these clearings as well in hand. 

 The acreages must be regarded as approximate until a 



complete survey of the properties is made, a work which 

 will be commenced this year. — By order of the Directors, 

 Bosanquet & Co., Agents and Secretaries, Colombo, 9th 

 March, 1906. 



TONACOMBE ESTATES COMPANNY 

 OF CEYLON. 



3 Directors -.—Hon Mr J N Campbell, Messrs RS Templer 

 and G H Alston. Agents and Secretaries : Messrs Cumber- 

 batch & Co. Estate Superintendent : Mr V Vicaresso. 



Acreage.. — The acreage of Tonacombe Group i3 as 

 follows :— 



Tea in bearing " . . 718 acres. 



Tea not in bearing . 37 



Tea seed bearers .. 3 



758 acres. 



Cardamoms in bearing . . 37 „ 



Reserve Forest . . 31 „ 



Fuel Trees . . 22 „ 



Chena and Patana .. 1,405 ', 



2.253 „ 



Owing to the partial failure of the North-East Monsoon 

 the tea crop (though over 30.000 lb in excess of, 1K04) 

 fell short of the estimate by 4,920 lb, the total quantity- 

 secured being : 05,080 lb. This sold at a net average of 

 35-19 cents as against last years' average oi 35-90 cents. 

 The Cardamom crop amounted to -t.OlV lb which sold at 

 u net average of 65-67 cents per lb. This price though 

 slightly better than in 1904 is still disappointing, and on 

 account of the small crops now gathered from the nearly 

 exhausted fields does little more than pay ordinary up- 

 keep. 15 acres have been abandoned. During 1905 

 another 5 acres of Cardamom land has been added to 

 the tea acreage, which has been revised to date. On 

 a re-survey of the Kalugalla Division, the old tea 

 proved to be less by 18 acres than the area under this 

 head given in the last report and this acreage has 

 been taken off the tea area and added to the Chena 

 and Patana. 11,894 para rubber plants have been 

 put out during the year in the lower fields 

 on Devatura and Kalugalla Divisions, i The total 

 crop expenditure amounted to R87,845D1 includ- 

 ing E8,933'14 spent on manuring 185 acres with arti- 

 ficial manure. The expenditure on capital account- 

 amounted to R3.100 spent on planting the above men- 

 tioned small tea clearing, the upkeep of the tea not yet in 

 bearing, and the planting df rubberand upkeep of nurseries. 

 The Directors contemplate" a rathe! more liberal pro- 

 gramme of artificial manuring in the future, and in 1906 

 they propose to manure 287 acres. The balance available 

 after writing off R3.100 on extensions mentioned above 

 and including R8,520 - 66 brought forward from 1904 amounts 

 to R26,651'05. The Directors recommend the payment of 

 a dividend of 5 percent- absorbing B1 4,0 0, the placing of 

 R10,000, to the Debenture Redemption account, and the 

 carrying forward of R-',ii51 - 05. The crops for 19C6 are 

 estimated at 320,0011b. of Tea, 3,000 lb. of Cardamoms 

 against an expenditure of R98. 16?.— By order of the Direc- 

 tors, Oi mberbatch &■ Co., Agents and Secretaries.. 

 Colombo, 9th March, 1906. 



