THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1890. 
provement. The Directors are not therefore disposed 
to pross the harvesting of this product. The quantity 
of Ooooa estimated was 600 cwt., but the crop only 
produced 423 cwt., realising £1,499 2s lid. The Oocoa 
trees are now looking fairly well, and there is every 
prospect of the present estimate being realised. The 
Cardamoms also failed to produce the estimated quan- 
tity, there have been 1,515 lb. only reoeived, which 
realised £133 8s Id. The Tea received from the 
Fordyoe, Fruit Hill, and Ampitiakande Estates has 
nmounted to 155,620 lb. (of which 34,000 1b. only was 
made from purchased leaf as compared with 68,0001b. 
made last year from bought leaf), in addition to which 
1,947 lb. were sold in Ceylon. The proceeds of the 
shipments of tea to London amount to £6,318 18s 7d, 
and uf the tea sold in Oeylon to £42 14s 1 d, and it is ex- 
pec ed that a larger return will be obtained this year 
without purchasing outside leaf. There was also a 
Bale of 60,023 lb. green leaf from the estates where 
the Company have no factory. The Tea received last 
year was 171,364 lb. of which 68,000 was made from 
bought leaf. 
The following statement shows the acreage and 
Btate of cultivation of cultivation of the Company's 
estates on the 30th June last: — 
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The Directors who on this occasion retire are Mr. 
R. P. Harding and Mr. J. T. White, and being eligible, 
offer themselves for re-election. Mr. John Smith (a 
shareholder) the Auditor, also retires and offers him- 
self for re-election. The Direotors in their ciroular 
of the 25th September last, issued in answer to a 
ciroular which had been recently sent to some of the 
Shareholders by Col. Howard, dealt at considerable 
length with the history of the Company and its present 
position, add detailed the successive changes in culti- 
vation which oiroumstances over which the Directors 
had absolutely no control had forced upon them. 
Theydo not therefore think it neoessary to say more 
upon that subject in this report, but as in that oirouiar 
they promised to detail the ohanges which had taken 
place in the management and control of the Estates 
since their late manager ceased to aot, they accordingly 
proceed to fulfil their promise. The system of manage- 
ment, which when the Company was started, seemed 
admirably adapted for insuring the best possible re. 
suits (viz., general superintendence by one who had a 
large stake in the C mpany's success, assisted by ODe 
of the oldest and most influential firms in Oeylon) 
whtn Coffeo was practically the only product then 
cultivated, appeared to the Directors to be no longer 
calculated to produce the most beneficial results, when 
a large portion of ihe Company's estates h.»<l been 
planted with Tea, the manufacture of wliich requires 
constant supervision by resident superintendents as- 
sisted by properly quilified assistants. 
The Directors therefore after having given the 
matter their most serious consideration determined to 
dispense with the services of a General Manager, and 
to provide for constant eupervii- ion on each estate by 
resident Superintende d assisted as abovemeutioned 
and always upon the estates unless absent by 1 ave of 
the Colombo Agents, and therefore always able to 
give their close atteuiion not only to the cultivation, 
but to the manufacture of Tea, which is absolutely 
necessary to produce Tea of a good quality. In addi- 
tion to this the Directors with a view to giving the 
resident Superintendents the advantage of tbe varied 
knowledge which a VisitiDg Agent going from one 
part of the island to another must necessarily 
obtain, and also wiih a view to obtaining periodical 
reports on state of cultivation and mere accurate esti- 
mates of receipts and expenditure than have been 
heretofore at their disposal, appointing the following 
gentlemen as Visiting Agf-nts: — 
Mr. Dick for Ampittiakande, Arnhall, Eappabannock, 
Rillamulle and Thotulagalls. 
Mr. Giles Frederick Walker for Fordyce and Gar- 
bawn, Fruit Hill, Go> agalla and Paramatta. 
Mr. Grigson for Yattawatte — and when this new 
arrangement was determined upon it was calculated by 
the Colombo Agents that it would not only promote 
a much more efficient management, but effect a saving 
of about R5.000 per annum in the expenses. 
The Directors have no reason to suppose that the 
calculations then made will not prove to be correct, 
but until at least anothfr year has passed it will be 
difficult to estimate the benefits to be derived from 
the new system, tbfy will be able to speak with more 
confidence after tbe end of the current year 1889 90, 
when some of the benefits which are expected to be 
derived from the new system will, it is hoped, have 
ceased to be the subjects of estimates. As far as the 
Directors can judge everything connected with the 
management is going on extremely well. As new cir- 
cumstances arise they are vigorously dealt with, the 
est mates are made with the greatest possible care, 
and when (as it is happened in one or two instances) 
such estimates have had to be reduced the expenditure 
has been cut down as nearly as possible to a corres- 
ponding extent. The estates are now being managed 
with a firm grip which is calculated in the course of 
auothi-r year (weather and other ciroumstances per- 
mitting) to produce very beneficial results. The 
Director do not think it necessary to say anything 
further on these points, but they think it may interest 
the Shareholders to have an epitome of the revised 
estimates for the year ending 30th June next. 
The following is a copy of such Epitome: 
Estimates op the Chops and Expenditure by the 
Superintendents for the Year 1st July 1889, to 
30th June 1890, approved by the Company's 
Agents and Visiting Agents. 
AMPITTIAKANDE. 
Acreage. Superintendent. 
Coffee 164 acres. Mr. W. J. Gorman, Jun. 
Cinchona .. .. — 
Tea 133 „ 
Grass 2 „ 
China and timber belts 33 „ 
332 acres 
Estimated to yield 540 £ s. d, 
Bushels of Parchment 
oqual to 108 cwt. Coffee 
at 80s per cwt. 432 0 0 
1,0001b. Bark at 3d per lb, 12 10 0 
24,400 lb. Tea at Is per lb. 
1,220 0 0 
Surplus. 
£ s. d. 
10 0 
