May i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
767 
Tons. 
Stock in United States and Europe, 
August, i; 1883 104,500 
Add crops of 1888-89 691,000 
795,500 
Deduct total Consumptton in the 
"World, 1888.89 671,500 
Would leave Stock on Angu-t 1,1889 124,000 
Add estimated crops oE 1889-90 ... 495,600 
619,600 
Deduct total Consumption iu the World 
for 1889-90, estimated at 100,700 tons 
less than for the preceding year... 570,800 
Would leave estimated Sto^k 
August 1, 1890 , 48,800 
SUMATRA TOBACCO PLANTATIONS 
COMPANY. 
The first ordinary meeting; of the Sumatra Tobacco 
Plantations Company, Limited, was held on the 27th 
inst. at the Cannon-street Hotel, Mr. H. H. Nelson 
presiding. 
Mr. W. M. Reeves (secretary) having read the 
notice convening the meeting, the Chairman said : I 
have very little that is new to you, because the 
prospectus has been quite recently in your hands, and 
the position as stated in the prospectus is very nearly 
the position today. There is just one little point I 
would like to mention, and that is, that in the pros- 
pectus it is stated that the amount of land that has 
been acquired by the company consists of about 8,200 
acres. Well, now, it is a satisfactory circumstance that 
I am able to inform you that the amount of land 
we acquired has, upon measurement, turned out to 
be considerably more than this ; that is to say, on 
the Pulu Kemiri estate we have 2,700 acres, of which 
only 300 have been cultivated. On the Soengie 
Besamit the survey is not yet completed, but we are 
pretty confident that that will turn out to be about 9,000 
acres; so instead of 8,200 we shall possess somewhere 
near 12,000. In addition to that since the prospectus 
was issued we have purchased another estate, which 
we were in negotiation for at the time the company 
was brought out, hut as nothing was settled it was 
not mentioned in the prospectus ; but over and above 
those estates I have mentioned we are possessors 
of an estate called Kotosan, 3,500 acres, of which 
about a third — 1,000 acres — have been cultivated. 
Hence we are, at the moment, owners of 15,300 acres, 
of which are 14,000 are virgin soil, and balance will, in 
due course, be ready for cultivation again. Now, virgin 
soil for tobacco-growing in Sumatra is not only valu- 
able, but of increasing value, and that is so far satis- 
factory. The statements of our prospectus in this 
respect are fully confirmed, and I may say that any 
information that has come to band since the com- 
pany was floated confirms the knowledge we had then, 
that we are possessed of a large quantity of very 
good tobacco-growing land. (Cheers.) Now there 
is another very satisfactory circumstance which I 
may mention — that within three miles of Pulo Kemiri 
we have the railway station, and down to the rail- 
way station we have excellent roads and the conse- 
quence is, we are able to send our tobacco down 
by rail, saving time and saving a good deal of 
expense, inasmuch as the insurance, especially, is 
much less that way than by sending it down in 
boats. Y u kimw from the prospectus that by ar- 
rangement with the vendors a profit upon the 1888 crop 
was guaranteed of £5,000. Now, to obviate any mis- 
apprehension on this point, I may mention that 
this was not a part of the original bargain with 
the vendors ; but upon Mr. Bernard, who was repre- 
senting him°i j lf and the other vendors, arriving in 
England, he bad no hesitation, at our request, 
apart from the bargain made by him, in entering 
into that guarantee, beoause, having seen the quantity 
and quality of the tobacco of the 1888 crop, he felt 
perfectly justified in doing so, because he saw no chance 
of any possible loss, We hope, and we believe, that 
the amount of our profits over last year will be in 
excess of that £5,000; but at any rate, gentlemen, we 
know that we have that at our disposal ; and, as by 
our arrangement with the vendors, our agreement 
leaves out the shares giveu to the vendors for the pur- 
chase of the estate, in any dividend divided during 
this year, this sum, whatever it may be, £5,000 or 
perhaps more — we know it will be somewhere in the 
neighbourhood of that — is available for the payment 
of dividend upon the £25,000 now paid up by the 
purchasing shareholders of the company. Therefore, 
gentlemen, you have the satisfaction of knowing that 
within the next few months, wheu the crops are rea- 
lised, you have, at any rate, the certainty of a very 
handsome dividend of somewhere in the neighbour- 
hood of '10 per cent upon the paid-up capital — that is 
to say, the paid-up capital by the purchasers of this 
company. (Cheers.) I may say that it would have 
been, perhaps, a little more satisfactory— to you, cer- 
tainly, and, I think, to my co. directors — if we had been 
able to give you a little less than this, and put a portion 
of this to reserve, because a reserve is a very desir- 
able thing to have in any company, and especially in 
a company newly started like this : but as the 
vendors' shares are not entitled to get any portion 
of this, if we had put it into reserve, of course, we, 
in a manner, should have given to the vendors 
what they are not entitled to receive. It was stated 
in the prospectus that we had a bargain with the 
vendors to pay them the cost of producing the crop 
—£3,000. This, I may tell you, gentlemen, and it 
is right you should know it, represents about $19,000 
of actual coin paid out by Mr. Bernard in working 
the estate. It does not fairly represent the cost of 
producing that tobacco upon the market, because 
there are additional charges for finishing and getting 
ready for shipment, and so on ; and, moreover, Mr. 
Bernard was at that time his own administrator, 
which would reduce the cost ; but, as a matter of 
fact, if we had been working this company in the 
way we are working now, it would have cost at 
least £1,000 more to produce that tobacco for the 
market. I may mention this, because those who un- 
derstand tobacco-planting may have been astonished 
at the eeonomy with" which the thing had been 
worked, and might reproach us, a year hence, that 
our expenses for the production of tobacco had been 
increased. 160 acres will be cultivated this year. 
I can only hope that the result will be approxi- 
mately satisfactory. There is no reason to sup- 
pose it will not. In the following year — 
— that is to say, 1890 — we do begin work in 
real earnest, and hope to have then about 500 
acres under cultivation, which, it worked in as 
thoroughly satisfactory a manner, will show very hand- 
some profits. It is impossible to exaggerate the very 
great importance of having a really first-rate man to 
look after our affairs out there. It is the life and soul 
of a company of this kind, and it is with great pleasure 
that I state that our own impression confirms what we 
have heard on all sides ; that in A. P. Bernard we have 
secured as good a man as we possibly could have — u 
straighforward, hard-working, energetic man, who is 
thoroughly to be relied upon to work well and econo- 
mically for the interests he has in his hands. The 
venture we are in, I think, we all believe a thoroughly 
good one. Without wishing to make disparaging 
comparisons between our shares and Consols, or even 
Goschens, we think we are embarked in a straight, 
honest undertaking, that has been acquired at a reason- 
able price, and will be worked well and thoroughly and 
faithfully for the interest of those who are shareholders; 
and we have every confidence that the results will be 
excellent, aud possibly even brilliant. (Cheers.) 
Mr. Drought (a director) stated that he had received 
a letter from the chairman of the United Lankat To- 
bacco Company, stating that the average price realised 
for shipment was 1 guilder 55 cents. 1888 crop, and it 
contained nearly 50 per cent, of broken leaf. It was 
s atisfactory to know that the (1888 orop was turning 
0 ut exoellent. (Cheers.)— L. # C, Expreit. 
