June i, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
caused by the strain on the tea-tasters. In a natu- 
rally strong position, tea might be expected to go 
easier when catalogues were issued for 25,000 
in one week, even if divided between two days, 
but the market would not be knocked down Id to 
2d per lb. owing to the physical impossibility of 
carefully valuing 1,000 samples for one day. 
^ 
THE CEYLON TEA PLANTATIONS 
COMPANY. 
The usual annunl meeting of this Company was 
held Bt Winohester House, on April 12th, when 
the following fhareholders were present. — Mr. H. 
K. Rutherford (Chairman), Messrs. D. Rei I and 
H. Tod (Directors), Bnd iVIessrii. J. Dudin, W H. 
Whitefield, JeB.=e Moir, W- G. Freeman, George 
White, S. Johnson E. Tje, W. Johnstone, George 
SetoD, 0. J. Scott, J, Moir, E. T. Davie?, A.G. 
Stanton. J. L. Shand, and H, Anderson. 
The Secretahv h:ivirg rrad the notice convening 
the meeting. 
THE OHAIRMAN S SPEECH. 
The Chairman said. — Aa tbe report and accounts 
h»ve been in your hands for some days, I pre- 
sume, as U6u;i), you will accept them as read. 1 
notice it is cuBtomary st these tirrea for the chair- 
men of companiis, in addressi g the shareholder', 
to make some reference to the depression of 
trade as having more or less curtailed profits fcr the 
past year. Although this depression has undoub edly 
had a lowering effect on the price of our prolui'P, we 
are, notwithstauding, able to present to you a state- 
ment of yrur affairs shewing resulls superior to 
those of any previous 3 e^r in tl'e Company's history. 
As we have now been in existence seven years, it may 
not be uninteresting to compare the early beginnings 
of the Company with its present position. The 
original paid up capital was £75,090, and it is now 
£248,460 We stsrted with 1,593 acres of cultivated 
land standing us in some £38 per acre, and we now 
have 8,318 acres under tea at £29 per acre. Our 
first crop from all sources was 598,779 lb of tea, 
and last ^eir it was eight times this amount, or 
4,966,928 lb. The first year's piofits were £13,257, and 
in the year under review they are £44,481. 
We have paid dividends amounting to .. 144,073 13 9 
Have writ'en off for depreciation ., 20,445 8 1 
Set aside as a fteservo from Snrplos 
Profits 35,000 0 0 
And carry forward to noxt year .. 1,995 8 10 
Making in all a totxl profit in the 7 
y ore of £201,514 10 8 
A CREDITABLE BECOBD. 
This, 1 Bubaiit is a very cieHtable record and one 
tthich 1 »m sure must be as gratifjing to share- 
holders as it is to tl o'l; who have to deal with the 
managemsnt of your aif > r-. Before referring to my 
vis t to t'eyloD it will perhaps be more convenient 
to noako some remark? in elucidation of the various 
items in our balance sheet and profit and loaa account. 
Our shares issu'i, yen will note, b as been increased by 
the aleili on ot £20,240 to 'he ordinary fhare capital 
ard £7,640 ii crease on the preference shares, and 
this extra cap til, jou will r< member, was called 
for ill cT'ler to purchase G'.enlyon and Sta'r 
estate''. The total issue low stands a'l £218,460, and 
against this you will see we liave property to 
the value of £285,470 or £37,000 in excess of cur 
issued share capital. Whoo yon connidor the 
high-class nature of our property generally, and the 
value of such ian a iit the present time in Oeylon as 
eridenoed ly ricin' Bali 3, ai'd tie flotai i-u 1 f n>iw tea 
compani" s, I think it cannot but I'B admit'el tliiit we 
have placed this company in an excee iingly ttrons 
position when onr cultivated UniN now stand at t'29 
per aero and other Unds at £3 15s — after :\llowiBg 
for the resjtvo ot £35,0(10. This reserve furd last 
year wan made up to £25,000, and, it will beobservurt, 
half this amount lias been iuvtsted in fir.it-olasfi se- 
curities, and, fs we think it right you should know 
what these investments are, I will enumerate them: — 
£2,500 — 2^ per cent Consols 
2,500 — 2 J per cent Metropolitan Stock 
300 — 3i per cent Glasgow Irredeemable Stock 
2,500 — 8 per cent Mauri'ius Inscribed Gaaranteed 
1,000 — 3 per cent Caoadi Stock [Stock 
l.OCO — 4 per cent Victoria Inscribed Stock 
[ 1,000 — 3h per cent New Zealand IcBcribed Stock 
1,000 — 3| per cent New South Wales Inscribed Stook 
1,000 — 3| per cent Cape of Good Hope Do. 
It is the in'ention of your Directors to p'ace 
the full amount of £25,000 in a similar class of 
investments, and we trust this money will not 
te disturbed for any purpose save that of equal- 
lizing dividends. It is propo.sed by your Board to add 
£10,000 to this reterve, and I shall now refer to how 
we have begun to utilize some of tbe surplus proGW, 
I think you will agree with me in donsidering that 
it is highly desirable that these filnds sho'Ald not 
participate in the riskn incidental t tea cult'ivation, 
but that we should fortify ourse'ven against the pos- 
sibility of bad years in the future by growing pro- 
ducts other than tea. 
COCONUT CULTIVATIoy. 
While in Ceylon I discussed very fully wilh Mr, 
Talbot the prcpofals he had made to the Board for 
the cuUivalion of coconuts as a reserve product. 
Aft' r mature consideration, a: d the inspection of 
several blocks of land by our manager, assisted by 
the weli-kuown expert, Mr. Jar iine, he selected and 
purchased for us 803 acres of land lying bet- 
ween Mirigama and Kurunegala of which 175 
acres are already planted with coconats. There 
are some here, connected with the Colony, who 
do not require to be told anything as to the 
stability of this product aud of its safe 
char.ic'er as an investment ; but to those who 
do not know Ceylon I may briefly say it may 
be termed the consols of tropical agriculture. The 
security consists in the fact that coconut trees go 
on bearing for over 100 years, that the cultivation 
is a cheap one, involving but little outlay after 
planting up ; that the demand for the product of 
the trees is steadily increasing, and further that 
well-planted and cultivated coconut estates at the 
present time give returns quite equal to those 
derived from tea cultivation. European enterprise 
has not hitherto, however, found it congenial to 
embark to any large extent in the cultivation of this 
staple product of the Island, from the fact that 
eight to nine years elapse before any appreciable 
return can be looked for from the capital invested. 
With coconuts as the basis of our cultivation we 
intend also, where the land is suitable, to grow 
Liberian coffee aod cocoa, from w'oich we hope 
to obtain fair returns before the coconut trees 
come into bearing. With encouraging prospects for 
a continuance of good dividends from our 
tea properties, and a substantial reserve in 
securities to fall back upon in case of neces- 
sity to equalize dividends, I think we are 
amply justitiel in inveslii g in the cultivation of this 
product. The policy we have decided to puraoe in 
this ma'ter we consider an eminently safe one in the 
interests of the shareholders and to (he continued 
1 stability ( f the compmy Tnin ng to the profit and 
loss acco.mt, it will not, 1 think, have escaped your 
notice that, altbousib wo have turned cut 300,229 lb. 
more tea th u in th« previous year, we have done to 
at a reuiced expenditure in Ceylon of no les-i than 
£4,614 63 9d. 
COST OK PBODUCTION. 
This to my mind is one of the most gratifying aod 
satisfactory foitures in the accounts, as it sbowg that 
tlie lowest point hAii not been touched in the cost of 
proilnctiou i i previous years, and is evidence, win n 
taken in conjunction with the p ofitn earned, that we 
t ave in our Cuvlon niannger ai d llie e»'ate (inperiD- 
teniients men who, while economizing in every parti- 
cular of eipenditore, do not sacrifice efiioienoy in order 
to secure ohoapuess of production. The proeee<ls from 
all sources amount to £127,240, being £I,9'20 over 
