May I, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
rest of the mxokerel family, the herrings, the cod'', 
and the enltnoii, are not well represented. The Aue- 
tr»liin whiting, whioh is not t.ie aamc aa ours, is a 
useful and important filili. The flat-hends are 
fairly nbuiiJaut, as are the sea-pikes ; and the 
geoas Belone, allied to our " groan-bone, " is 
repres-iuted by a good fish, the Fi'zroy gar- 
pike; but the best-knovva Queensliiid fishes ure tlie 
grey inulletf, tlic sea-mullet being the most valu- 
able specie?, this fish reaching ten or twelve 
pound,". SmcUe, anclioviee, and other fish are known, 
particularly the shovel-no ed skate, which may attain 
a hundred pound". Some beautiful colours arc seen 
amontr the non-edible families. With these brilliant- 
hued fishes, set forth in their Rlory together with the 
cor^tl-ayiuials in some chromo-plates, reluctantly leave 
the Great Barrier Reef. 
Mr. Siville-Keut's qu&rto volume is a handsome 
one, worthy of its sal>iect, and it is enriched by pho- 
togrsphs of the typical scenery of the Great Reef, the 
lisbes, and coloured plates of the more striking ftLimals 
and fishes. It is chiefly desoriptive, but an area so 
v*st could hardly be treated in auy other manner ; and 
information of the most varied and interesting charac- 
ter is provided hand-in-haud with the more wjthetic 
details. J t deserves to be studied, for the Great Reef 
is unique, — one of the most strange and yet beautiful 
feitureit of the Southern hemisphere; and, moreover, 
it belongs to the British Empire.— London Spectator. 
THE KELANI VALLEY TEA 
ASSOCIATION (LTD). 
DiRECTOBS : — George W. Paine, Cotswold Lodge, 
Upper Norwood (Uhairman) ; Donald Andrew (of 
Messrs. Andrew and U\, Calient), 16, Philpot Lane, 
E.C. ; Leopold F. Davie i (of Metsre. Uow, Wilson 
and ►"tauton), 13, Rood Lane, E.G. ; Dudky A. C. 
Scott, 45, Eaton yquare, S, W, Managing Diroclor : 
Robert Porter. Midlothian Estate, C ylon. 
The following is from the report of the board of 
directors to bo pr esented to the ahareh.ilders at their 
Eighth Annual Orlinary Meeliag, to bo held at the 
offices of the Company, OD April 9tb, 1891, at 2-30 p.m. 
The directors have pleasure in submilting to the 
abareholders the report and accouQti of the company 
for the p.ist season. In their last report the directcri 
intimated that they had acquiredWereagalla Estite.bJt 
that it was not their intention then to create fresh 
capital. Shortly af'erwards, however, they were able 
under Mr. Porter's advice to negotiate for the purchase 
on ndv.intageous terms of the adjoining estate of 
Paiuiella from the executors of the late proprietor. 
The price paid (or this property was £5,250, and it 
w«8 taken over by the company es from July 1st last. 
In view of these extensions, the Board 
thought. It desirable that the capital of the company 
Bhould be increased, and an Kitraordioary General 
Meeting wns held on June 2Gth last, when resolu- 
tions were cirried increasing the nominal oapilal 
to £50,000, which were ikily confirmed at a sub^tequ- 
ent Extraordinary Meeting held on July 13th fol ow- 
in/. Of the fresh oapitil thus authorised 1,000 shsrea 
were offered prorata to existing shareholderi nt £1 
premium per share, and 816 shares were taken up, 
leaving 181 sharop, to bo subsequently dealt with by 
the Board. For these, tenders havo recently been 
invited at a niiuimnm of .£2 jiremium per share, and 
all havo now bsen allotted. The premiums leotive 1 
on the IJIG shares have as usual been placed to reserve 
account, which with n small profit on realisation of 
Consols, now amounts to £1,839 2^ 9d., a'ld the 
further premiums on I81 shares will be similarly iloiilt 
with. The sosson just closed has bten an advcr.-e 
one for the Tea Industry in Ceylon. The island w la 
visited by a severe nud abnormal drought, whioh told 
roost aoverely on the loweountry estatoa, and tho 
oropii secured wore eonsequontly cousii'cratdy short of 
estimates. Tho prices for tea wero not .^() ko(h) as in 
the previoiis year, but the avcr.ig.' obtaini'il for tho 
company's teas compares favuurkbly with tlia' ro- 
aliaeU for the produce of other gardeui in the siuu 
district. The factories and machinery are in eflScient, 
order, but the directors think it wise to ooutinne 
th-1 policy of writing down their cost, and 10 per 
cent amounting tO' £5ft) In Id., has accordingly again 
been written oli for deprooiatiou. The company's 
net profits for the year, after debiting the above, 
amount to £1,486 8a., which with £881 l'.)s5d., brought 
forward from last accounts, gives £2,371 7a 5d., to 
be now dealt with, and this it is proposed to appro- 
priate as follows : — 
Amount as above . , £2371 7 a 
Interim dividend of 5 per 
cent paid in September, 
ascribed . . £563 5 0 
It is DOW proposed to 
pay a final dividend of 
10 per cent (free of 
Income Tax), making 
15 per cent for the 
year .. 1289 14 0 
1852 19 0 
Leaving a balance to carry 
forward of . . . . £518 8 0 
In accordance with the Articles of Association Mr 
G W Paine retires from the board, and being eligible 
offers himself for re-election. 
Mr. J B Laurie also offers himself for re election 
as auditor. — H, and C. Mail. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE. 
New Ide.\s about Tea Drinking.— It is quite time 
that in the place of mare bald stricturea upon tea 
drinking, our ra?dic»l and scientific authorities should 
endeavour to assist tea planters and the pabl'c 
generally by giving a few details on the subject. It 
is useless to txpect that tho public wi 1 give up tea 
simply because soma eminent melical authority rails 
at the tea drinkicg habit, and utters some common- 
place remarks about tannin. The public like tea, and 
they wish to drink it under the moet favourable con- 
ditions as regards its brew. In fact, tvaryone wishes 
to receive instruetion upon the art and economy of 
tea growing and tei drinking, and here, just in the 
nick of time, we have Mr. Ernest HarS coming to 
the rescue. 
Tablet Tea. — According to Oonaal Brown, of 
Kiukiaug, tablet tea, whioh, unlike brick te», is 
made from the finest quality of dust, shows a 
marked increase in the 18'J2 movement. Two 
Ru'iBian firms are the only makers of brick tea in 
Kiukiang. One of them has at present the monopoly 
of the manufacture of the tab'et tea, whioh is find- 
ing a market even outside Russia — in Germany and 
France. List year's report spoke of it as "the best 
and most convenient form of tea that one can pos- 
sibly imagine tor travellers, baokwoodsmen, or armi"« 
in the fields." There would seem to be no reas'>n 
however, why whole leaf tea should not be cooapn s- 
sed intoneiuly the aame compass by suitable^ roa' hi- 
nery, much ai some kinds of tobacco are treited, 
and in that case, the leaf bfing unbroken, one would 
expect the aroma to be better retained.- By an 
arrangement of the nionld the cake ooulJ pjssibly 
to clivi<Ied into rations, and thus economy ol space 
iu the traveller's boi, tha aroiy o jnimissariat, and 
the man-of-war's store room would ho combined 
with simplicity in use. Samples of brick and of 
tablet tea are fc r.Tarded with tbo Consul'n report 
tor the inspection rf auycue interested iu the sn •jeel, 
and these are to bo seen at the India Office, rhe 
manufacture ii only carried on at Kiukiang during 
August, September, and O toi or. 
La.st Wehu's Tha S.vi.k?.— Qui) one public sales of 
Indian tea has bec:i held thii we. k, says the I'lvlurr 
Jfarktli lUric"-, and iis there were many ob sini; in- 
volC'S from ibo niojt imp riant jj^flens ooinpelition 
waaactiv. A'* lb quanliiy tub- imp 'tl'd lo olose 
lli.i soaBOM wdl b>' small oompnn-d willi I He "amK pfrmd 
last yonr.it in pr >i a Mt« lh«t lb.. »i.>rk at the end of 
this mouth will be b.low that of th« preoediug ym. 
