Jan. I, 1894.] ttlE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
483 
THE LAKKA PLANTATIONS COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
ENCOUEAGING REPORT: UNANIMOUS 
MEETING. 
An ordinary general meeting of the shareholders 
in the above company was held on Wednesday at 
the offices, 12, Fenchurch Street, E.G. Mr. Geo. 
Allen presided. 
Mr. (J. M Robertson (the secretary) read the 
notice convening the meeting, and also the minutes 
of the last meeting. 
The Chairman said : Gentlemen, I think those who 
have read the report carefully will be fairly satisfied 
with the progress we have made during the year. We 
seem to have emerged from a time of great diificulty 
and trouble into something like prosperity, and it 
appears to me that our misfortnues ate now at an 
end. (Hear, hear.) We have h«d to change our 
front three times, and now, finally, we have the Estates 
planted with tea, which baa this advantage : that 
it is of a 
MOBB PEKMANENT CHAEACTEtt 
and ia not kffeoted in the same way as coSee. For 
in6t»noe, tLe aoSee crop depends almost entirely upon 
the weather, at & particular seasoa so that, should 
the seaaon bo unpropitious, the crop is destrojed, 
whereas with tea we have it growing tlie whole year 
roaod, and it ia ab'e to be picked at all eessous. 
Therefore, taking one thing with the other, we have 
every reason to believe that lea is the more profitable. 
As far as I can make out there seems to be 
NO LIMIT TO THE AGE 
of the tea-plant; I understand that in China (he tea 
plant continues to yield well for upwards of fifty 
years. Another interesting fact ia with reference to 
its root, which goesdotvntoa considerable depth into 
the ground, and gets all the benefit of the moisture 
which ought to be there. I heard the other day — 
hnt it is almost incredible — that the root is some- 
times known to extend as far as forty feet. On the 
other hand, the coffee plant has » surface root. You 
will see in the report a short resume of our year's 
operation?, and I think I can eafely say that with 
the exception of the Spring Valley and Ouvah Com- 
panies, we are the only Company that has 
SUCCESSPULLY TIDED OVER 
the coffee crisis. I think frhat is a tribute to our 
perseverance and patience. If you refer to the balance- 
sheet you will notice that during tbe whole of this 
period we have only increased cur capital account by 
i6,900, and that has been in developing the Rillamulle 
and the Yattawatte estates. These estates are likely 
to be two of the best on our books, and may turn out 
to be our very beat possesaions. All the other altera- 
tions that have been made have been charged to the 
suspense account, the creation of which was authorised 
in 1885, and since that time we have 
PUT TO THAT ACCODNT i;l7,473, 
and have written off £6,946. At the end of 10 years 
the earliest items in the account will be knocked off, 
and so far reduced, and I suppose the ultimate result 
will be thai, this money will be used to liquidate the only 
debt we have, and that is the two snms lent by Sir K 
P. Harding and myself some years ago. In the ac- 
count there is an item for machinery, etc. ; I do not 
know why that was put to any other account than 
the suspense account; but, at all events, we have 
written off about 60 per cent of that amount, and 
now we propose to add the balance of X'832 to 
the suspense account. As far aa tbe Yattawaite es- 
tate is concerned the reports we have of it are of an 
KXTREiMKLY SATISFACTORY CHARACTER. 
Yon will see from the accounts that durimj the year 
we have received £4,170 from coffee, £6,451 from 
cocoa, and £14,018 from tea, I should like to read you 
an extract from the superintendent of my own 
estate. He ia referring to the coffee crop, and 
says: "I went yesterday through Thotalagalla, 
and waa very pleased to see how well tlio coffee 
looked, and what a good crop, was on the trees." We 
Bte keeping in cultivation all the coffee plants as far as 
psiiOle, but whoa they ijut plant tea, in \]\^\t 
place. As far as cocoa is concerned that pro^isea to be 
THH MOST PROFITABLE ESTATE 
we have, The amount of cocoa produced for 
the J ear, as I have before stated, represents 
£6,451 which can be only called a tremendously large 
profit, and, though we cannot always expect such good 
resnlta from this product, the further development of 
this estate ought to bring ue in a very handsome 
return. As far aa our tea plantations are concerned 
I have pointed out the advantages they have over 
coffee and cinchona, and we are extending, as far aa 
opportunity serves and the means allow, tbe cultiva- 
tion of ten. You will see from the report that out 
average p'.uckings of tea is about 30O lb. an acre, and 
we are expecting, before very long, to get 350 lb, an 
acre. If you calculate that out, that will make a 
diff'ereDoe of a sixth in the income derived from tea, 
which, of course, will mean 
A DESIRABLE ADDITION 
to our dividend. Some people aay, how is it yon do 
not pay tbe enormous dividends that some ot those 
new Compiinies pay? The answer is plain. When 
we boughc our estates we thought coffee was at the 
lowest point : but we were mistaken. Iheae new Com* 
panies, however, have come in at the lowest point, 
with the result that they have made a great profit — 
and that is the short and long of it why we cannot 
pay such high dividends. Of course the great thing 
is, or will be, to extend the markets for tea. Some 
Ceylon people started a small company to send tea 
over to America, to the Chicago Exhibition, and it is 
to be hoped that they will by this means help to 
cure the Americans ot their partiality for Japan'tet, 
and teach them to patronise the Ceylon instead. I 
am glad to find in a circular issuei by Wilson, 
Smitbtitt & Co., that the exports ot Japan teas are 
falliog off, and that the 
EXPORTS OF CEYLON TEAS 
are on tbe increase. Tbe circular siatee that ''for 
the nine months the imports show an increase of 
4,000,0001b., whilst home consumption has only ex- 
panded to a very moderate extent ; it is satisfactory, 
however, to note that, with a total decrease in tue 
export, Ceylons mark a very satisfactory increase." 
That is very gratifying, as it shows that Ceylon teaa 
are being more appreciated. The next thing I should 
like to refer to ia the question of the price of tea, This 
DEPENDS UPON THE MAKE, 
and it is to that that we specially call tbe attention of 
our Buperintendenta and firm on the other side. If jou 
calculate you will find that an iuoreuse of one penny 
a pound in the price of tea is equal to a one per cent 
dividend upon our stock. It is, therefore, of the 
utmost importance that the tea should not 
only be well made, bat that the demand should 
increase to raise the price. I do not know 
that there is anything else that I can add. I have 
been through all the salient points of the report ; 
but if any shareholder desires further information I 
shall be happy, as far as I am able, to give it him. 
Our books, I may tell you, and our correspondence, 
and everything else are always 
OPEN TO THE SHABEHOLDEBS 
for their inspection, and I tbink I can take credit to 
myself and the other directors that we have done the 
utmost we could for the company. (Hear, hear.) I will 
now conclude by moving the adoption ot the report 
and statement of accounts. 
A Shabeholdkr ;— Do the company contemplata 
increasing tbe cocoa plantations c' 
The CnAiRJtAN :— Yes ; you are informed of that 
in the repcrr, It says, " The directors desire tu 
extend tbe cultivation of cocoa to tbe full 
extent ot the suitable laud ; tighty-five acres 
have been planted during the Lite fiueu- 
cial year, and arrHUgements oro in prcgicss lor iu- 
croaaing the acrerge to 600 acres by the end of.l894." 
To do this we have permission to raise some further 
preference stock. Rut I do not thiuk it will be no. 
cessnry, because, as the suspense u-.'count bteomea 
available. I think we should develop our tstnte cut 
of that. 
ilr. Edwaro Pbttit seconded the mgUon for th« 
