852 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
lJUNH I, 
those of the previous year, and the net profits are 
£44,481, or £6,121 in excess of 1892. This profit 
represents 23 per cent, on our Ordinary fehare 
Capital, after allowing for 7 per cent, on the Pre- 
ference Shares, and is equivalent to a return of ±'G 
4s per acre. You will observe from the report that 
we have 1,151 acres of young te* from which at 
present we get no return. This acreage is equivalent 
to an increase of 16 per cent, on our present area 
in bearing ; so that, were our profits to continue at 
£6 4s per acre, we would earn 25 per cool, for tlio 
Ordinary Share Capital. 
THE FUTUnE. 
The future, however, depends on many things, 
the two most important factors being the ex- 
change question and the price of tea. Of these 
I can tell you nothing, as they are practicallv 
beyond control. Should, however, either or botn 
of them assume an adverse form it is not, I think, 
likely that they could be more than temporiirily 
injurious to the Ceylon tea enterprine. As re- 
gards the other material agentB which influence 
our profits, namely the condition of our estates 
and their management, I am, from my recent 
visit to Ceylon, in a position to say something. 
As this Company owns 21 estates which vary 
vith each other in a more or less degree »b rcKards 
elevation, soil, climate and class of pUnt— tit of which 
contribute in affecting tlie quality of tea, at d sa they 
also difior ai to (heir natural advantaeee (or cheap 
production it would orarcely be possible, even if it 
were desirable, for me 'n the brief time at my die- 
pos;>l to detail the condition of each of thesB proper'iea 
separately to you. I wil' therofore, content moself by 
saying th t I found our estates beinp most caro- 
fnlly cultivnted, and factories aud machintry main- 
tained in excellent condition and repair, and the 
Bupetintendenta taking a keen and intelligent interest 
in every detail affecting the neltire of the property 
and the manufacture of teas. The the tea boshes on 
our estates were lookiug better and more viKoroiut 
than when I handed over charge to our present 
manager in 1889, and give every indicati n oi being 
able to yield goud crops for many years to come. 
Our oldest tea is now 16 years from plantin?, and 
instead of shewing eigus of deterioration (as has 
been alleged in ,Bome quarters of Ceylon tea gen- 
erally), I am in a position to cay that no acreage 
under tea that I eaw while in Ceylon, of 
which I had previous knowledge, shewed any signs of 
deterioration, but on the contrary the condition and 
appearance of the bush generally throughout the 
Island had greatly improved. I may say that I have 
returned from my visit more than ever convinced not 
only of the sound nature of the tea enterprise gene- 
rally, but more particularly of the eminently good 
position of the Ceylon Tea Plantations Company in its 
relation to that enterprise. Since the close of the 
year we have been unfortunate in having our Alton 
Factory totally destroyed by fire, but I am glad to 
say we are covered by Insurance. During the recon- 
struction of the buildings the tea will be manufac- 
tured on some of our neighbours' gardens, and any 
loss we are likely to suffer will, we estimate, be small. 
And now gentlemen, with regard to the current year. 
We do not know what is before us ; but I may tell you 
that in the first quarter of the year we have manufac- 
tured 68,000 lb more tea than we did for the same pe- 
riod last year, and the prices realised are about the 
same. 
THE CEYLON STAFF : A FINE SELECTION. 
I would eay one word on behalf of our Ceylon staff. 
On my visit I had an opportunity of meeting all our 
Buperintendenta and assistants, and it gives me great 
pleasure indeed at this meeting to be able to say that 
1 consider we could not have a better selection of 
men than those who carry out our work for us under 
the able management of their chief, Mr. Talbot, 
I shall bo very pleated to answer any questions 
Bhateholdera may desire to put with regard to the 
Company's affairs as far as I am able. Meantime 
I have now to move :— That the report of the 
directors and etatement of aooounta as submitted 
be received and adopted, aud that a final dividend of ' 
8 per cent, on the ordinary ebart-a (makiug 15 per 
centiuall free cf income tax) be declared, pajable 
oii 8ui after lha 30th iust." 
The resolatioD, baviui; been seconded by Mr. Tou, 
was du'y cnrried. 
The re-election of Mr. I). ReUi as a director vaj 
tb( o carried, aa was the re-appointiDett of the 
Audiiorf, and a vote of tfcanka to the Ce^lou 8taif 
having been put and carried byMr. J. L. Shand, for 
their etbcient service dvriog tha pa-t year, the pfo- 
cee<l|ri^s were brought to a close by an uoauimooa 
vote ol ibanks to the ChttiriLau. — Local " Tiroesi." 
♦ 
THE ACME PACKAGE COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
Capital £75,000 ik £5 SBABitf! 
The prospectus is issaed of Acme />ackage Com- 
pany, Limited. Ttis company is inst/tated (or the 
purpose of acquiring the rights oi a comparatively 
Rmall syndicate which has oeen worked in Glasgow 
daring several years. Its primary object was to 
Provide metal packages for the caariage of tea from 
ndia, Oeylon, China and oter tea prodacing coontriea. 
Hitherto it has been been the practice to export tea 
grown in these regions load-lined boxes of native 
manufacture, good enough in their way, bat not 
sufficieutly strong to obviate leakage, which often Jed 
to considerable loss The new invention completely 
annuls, it is said, such mischances. Instead of the 
wooden box with lead lining, which has been used 
ever since tea waa imported iuto this country more 
than tw'i-and-a-half centuries ago, a package of thin 
steel is provided which not only gives greater sec urity 
and consequent freedom from loss of weight, but 
has also tne additional advantage of saving freight 
and inland carriage. A board of thoroughly 
practical men. several of them already users of the 
packages, and who have tested them in actual work, 
has been formed. Some of the largest tea producers 
have taken up the scheme, which it is claimed n ill 
effect a revolution in the transport of tea from 
the growing districts in the East to this country. 
— City Leader. 
THE AMSTERDAM CINCHONA MARKET. 
Our Amsterdam corn spondent writes, ni der date 
of April 19th, that the cii choni-.-ales to be held in 
Ams'ercam on May 10:h w.U co. eist of 807 cases 
:ind 3810 bales, or about- 344 tons civi.J<d as foUew,: — 
From Government plautat'ons 60 ca.5 sand 237 balei-, 
iibcut 2'J loiis ; from piivate plaiaati .>i s 247 caeca 
and 3564 bales, alout 315 tons. T^iB qnant'ty ctn- 
tuinn of Druggist's bark — Sncoirubr", quills 105 bale', 
200 casts; broken qeilla and chipc 20S tales, 71 
cases, root 3 bales. Officii alip, quills 36 casts. Of 
Mnnulacturing bark — Ledgeriana, quills 56 biles, 
broken quil's and cbifs 2812 bales, root 444 bales. 
'Hyl rid, broken quill-* and chips 164 bah s, root 44 
bal s Officicalis, broken quills and chips 5 baler. 
Chemist and Druggist. 
Our Amsterdam cOTrespondent telegraphs ilis 
afternoon :— At our auctions today 3423 packages cf 
Java cinchona suld at an average unit < i 4-30 cents 
per hall-kilos (equal to 4-5thB d. per lb.) or 8 per 
cent below the previous auotio i price. Mauuf-cturii g 
barks in quills and chips reHl'sed from 6J to 45i 
cents (equal to 1| to SJd) ; ditto lOot from 9| to 35} 
cents (equal to if to 6fd) ; c'rugijiets' bark iu qu'lle, 
entire and br- ken from 5 to 43 cents ( qn^l to f 
to 7|;1) ; and ditto root from | to 8§ cents (equal to 
I to If d). The principal buyers were the Brunswick, 
Mannheim, and Amsterdam and Auerbach factories, 
and Mr. Gustav Briegleb of Amtter-'am. The total 
quantity of sulphate of quinine represented by 
the bark offered was 15,589 kilos, of which 14,156 
kilos were eold. — Chemist and Diuggist, May 10. 
4 
