176 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Sept. i, 1893. 
estates rarely realises more than 8d per lb., 
again'it our average of about Is. lo making 
these caloulatioDs we have taken le 3|d as the rale 
of exchange. This may be slightly exceeded, but if 
eo, it will be very little, as wo have already enjoyed 
a lower r»te for the first six months of the year, and 
if the measares today announced by the Government 
of India fix tbe exchange at U 4d, it will iiive ae an 
average of about Is sjd for the year. We have a 
contiderable area of young plant, which will give a 
greatly increased yield this year. The old tea at 
Dikom, with its improved cultivation, is also ex- 
pected to make an increaee, and wo have received a 
cable that the total quantity actually made up to the 
15th inst. was 33 per cent, ahead of last-year. 
GOING AHEAD VERY PAST. 
The increased area of onltivation last year was 246 
areae, and we have partly cleared and made arrange- 
menta for putting out another 120 acres during the 
curre it season. We then proposed to stop further 
eiteusionu for some years. The fact is, we want a 
little brea'hing time. We have been going ahead 
very fa^t, and these new extensions although 
they wi l be by far the most valuable portion of our 
proporty in tbe future, are at present a heavy 
drag on revyLu'-. The saw mills have raade • profit 
of over £800, a fair return on the capital expended ; 
but the Hdv intages are not to be regarded as a mere 
profit realisi d, as indirectly we derive considerable 
benefit from having our own mills. We are about 
to transfer them to Bordeobam, one of our gardens 
oa the North bank of the Brahmapootra, as thera it 
a want of .soft wood in the forests close to Bokel. 
We have at that place over six square miles of 
splendid timber, and the mills were set up there 
with a view to utilising it. At Bordtsbam we have 
an ttbundan.-e of this timber on the shelving banks 
of the Subansiri, (uffioieut indeed lo supply all the 
tea boxes required for the whole of India for some 
years. We have imported during the year over 1,500 
coolie?. Our labour force has thus been well maintained 
there being nearly 12,000 actually on the books, 
which, with oesuals, rivcs an average of nearly 
IJ coolies for every acre in bearing, and of 1 
coolie for every immature acre. With regard to 
dwellings, hoBpital", and water supply, the coolies 
on our estates are now far better oflE than 
their European masters were 25 years ago. We na- 
turally looked for a great improvement in the health 
of the cooliop, and in this we have not been disap- 
pointed, althongh, unfortunately, during the past year 
Vve suffered much from cholera, and even more from 
influenza. The report contains tbe usual inf ormation 
as to the course of the market, and the statistics of 
teas from all oouatries. The firs* fall oncurred after 
Christmas, and was undoubtedly produced by the 
shortsightedness of growers and importers in forcing 
immense quantities on the market, qnsnlitiea so large 
that the trade were unable to taste or value them. 
Then, owing to the distrust and uncertainty created by 
the introduction of the Home Rule meaeure, the whole- 
sale merchants in Belfast and Dublin ceased to hold 
stock in any quantity. This for the most part affected 
fine teas only. Further, many supporters of tbe new 
Government were identified with the cry for " a 
tree breakfast table," and dealers and grocers be- 
lieving that this would be earriei out iu the Budget, 
held only snflSoient stock for their requirements 
from week to week. There has been no change in 
the public taste for Indian teas and no falling off 
in their consumption, as the deliveries were lllj 
millions, being nearly 10 millions higher than the 
highest figure ever before recorded. As usual, this 
increase was gained at the expanse of the China article 
which, in the same year, fell to 60 millions. Although 
the Wilton estates were only acquired during the 
year under review, it was yet an accomplished fact 
when we met you last year. The result of their 
working has proved much more profitable than eveu 
I anticipRted. At the clo<eof the season, in November 
last, we concluded the purchase of a small garden, 
which lay between two of oar Wilton properlies. We 
would not have thought of purchasing it had it not 
been for its situation. Although we got itin terribly 
bad order and with very few oo lies, I have no 
doubt whatever that under our system of workiug, it 
will give a profit from the first. I poinu d out law 
year that our expenditure on Block aooouot waa 
uesr'y £9 000 in excess of capitsl theu calied up. To 
meet the turn required for the purchase ofTengakhat 
and for extensions we have made hioce, we dttermined 
on issuing the remainder of oor uucal ed capital. 
This wc dil in April, and the procee<ih still leave 
our Block £1U,000 more than the pail up capital. 
This we h-ve taken temporerily fr^m reserve, and 
will make gooi whenever any additional capital is 
authorised. 
THE AUTHOBISED CAPITAL EXHACSTED. 
We have now exhausted our authorised capital of a 
quarter of a mi'lion, all in ordinary sbare*. We have 
given the subject of future increase of capital mncb 
tho'igbt, and (onsid^r that any future inrrtimeut 
should be in the form of preference shares. 1 have 
no d' ubt that we could plac« our preferenoe capital, 
bearing C per cent, at a premiuon of from £1 to £2 
per sharp, althongh 1 would advocate ita lieing offered 
to tbe existing ebareboMers at par. But tbe time ha« 
not yet come. We would only need it in the case 
of some property offerii.g for sale aud the aquiaitiou 
of which w uld be a^ desirablw as, siy, the Wi.tuu 
estates, We liuve no keen deaire to add iu any way 
to our prevent ari-a. Turning to tbe acc^uutu, you 
will see thm lijkel and lakai give us a hiobb profit 
cf BboQt £3.500, which is much less than in tbe 
previcins three or four yearii, so that tbe change from 
generil to fine plucking told most unfavourably iu 
this division. The tiame may be said of Muttuck, 
whifh only gives a smal" profit of £1,200. Dikom left 
OB the handsome profit of over £8,000. Jamira, 
owinj; t) special caai>ec, barely cjverod its ezpeusei. 
I now learn Iroin independent sources that the pro- 
perty is now iu first-ciasf order, and I am oijnfioeut 
that its workinir this year will be as satisfactjry 
as formerly. I'auitolt and Hukaupukii }ielt nearly 
a half of tbe iucume made by tbe company, a< has 
bepn the rase for some jears p»st. This u parti- 
cularly gritiiyiug to me, as these estates were foraierly 
for the mnjor part owned by me, and BHhou;4h a 
loser by the transaction, it is highly ea'isfaclorj to 
know that the t'harebolders who accepted my estimate 
of tbe property have gained largely by doiug so. 
Tippuk yielded a moderate profit of about £4,000, 
wbich is niucb less thao it should do; bnt it waa 
worked under considerable disadvantages, which will 
not recur, Joybing shows the very small profit of 
under £1,000; but this is more apparent than real. 
Sines we purchased thi4 place four years ago we have 
nearly doubled the cultivation, and the present woi king 
revenue is saddled witha number of charges which more 
correctly should have been charged to Block. The work- 
ing of Subansiri has been thoroughly uusaiisfaclory, 
showing for the second year, a considerablft lo-s. I am 
quite sa tisfied that tbe pi operty is a valuable one, and 
will repay us handsomely in coming years ; but 
since we have held it, it has suffered from a sucoessioD 
of misfortunes. I have little doubt that this year it 
will turn the corner. No blame attached to the 
maua^eEcent, in which we have every confidence. We 
have, in co-operation with a number of other large tea 
companies, representing more than a quarter of the 
entire cr p of Indian tea, put £5,000 of which half 
is p id up, in But'er's Wharf, whTe cur tea on 
arrival is <varphous< d, and which i« one of the most 
val-jable properties in the City. It was acquired on 
such advantageous terms that our investment could 
already be sold at much above cost, and it will 
most probably double iu value iu a few years. Ttie 
next two investment made out of a portion of tbe 
reserve I oa^not speak so favourably of. They are 
really advertisements for the purpose of extending 
lu'lian tea on the Continent and in the United States. 
They have succeeded in some measure in efifccting their 
object, and it is only indirectly or remotely that we can 
expecS to derive any benefit from them. With the 
same view we have recently given about R1,000 
