July 2, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
2! 
the directors aud all other partios liablo, i to waive 
»Dy claim under the Directors' Liability Act, 
1890, for compe" sation in ri speet of any mis- 
statement in the prospectus made by the di- 
rector* or others in the belief that it was 
true.' " That is certainly not a condition under any 
circumstances, to wl'ich prudent investors ought to 
subscribe. The direo'ors are, no doubt, acting in 
good faith; bat they rely on the managing director, ! 
aud the managing diivo'or is one of the inventor?, 
and this anxiety to guard themselves axaicst pos- 
sible futu'e action for misrepresentation does appear 
to indicate that thoy have uo suffioient means of 
testing the calculations put forward. Without im- 
puting the least bad fiith, we caunot help saying 
that the iutrodoctio i of this new waiver clause is 
not the best of recommendations to the investing 
public. The Directors' Liability Act was passed 
for the protection of investors, and, no matter 
how good the thing offered to them may be, they 
can hardly be cons dsred wise if they voluntarily 
forego such protection bs the Act gives them. But 
even if the figures quoted are strictly accurate, the 
deductions drawn from theni in the prospectus are, 
to say the lea*t. problematical. The six weeks pro- 
fit of £268 is " equ'l to a profit of £1,900 on the 
year of forty-five wet ks, after deducting on cost, which, 
on an estimated output ten times larger, will represent 
h surplus of £18,979, or sufficient topay 30 per cent, on 
£60,000 after allowing for d^p eciation. Even though 
only half of the output should be readied, the 
" profit would still be over 13 i er cent." That sort of 
calculation is altogether in the region of hypothesis. 
On wba'basis is the output estimated at ten times 
larger — that i°, at over eightv-six thousand chests per 
*nnum ? There is no re ibo», so far as we can see, why 
the proportion sum was not worked out ou the basis 
of an output one hundred times as Urge. If the 
promoting syndicate ha sai stantial grounds for believ- 
ing that it can cell eighty-six thoueand chests at a 
profit of £18,979, why does it not take investors 
into its confidence and explain fully what these 
grounds are ? Tha*. the ealculatiou is of a very 
conjectural kind seems to be shown by the qualifying 
sentence—" even though only half cf the output 
should be reached." 
It is siid that, condi'.i"n*li) oi am nge nvtits being 
made for an adeq'ia'e future supply, p'antors rt present- 
iug more than one-fourth of the e .tire tra'e have 
placed orders with tho syndicate for packages to 
be used in the season of 1895. If we re id this cor- 
rectly it meins that the ommercial success of the 
enterprise depends materially on the size of the 
factory and sufficiency of the plant. But 
these, again, depend upon the amount of capita 
invested, and it is a fair inference that if only 
a part of tiie required rnotiey be forthcoming only a 
part of the programme can be carried ont ; and if 
only a part of the programme be carried out it see', s 
quite possible that the necessary assurances cannot be 
given whioh would justify the planters in discarding 
their present sources of supply. From this point of 
view, therefore, the scheme is veiled in uncertainty. 
Then, although this is an age of change, it remains to 
be seen whether tea traders will (aire kindly to the 
substitution of u sh et-steel box for the old familiar 
wood' a chest, with its quaint characteristic The 
grocer, as a rnlr, likes to give a foreign character to 
his window display, and the Chinese or Indian 
hieroglyphics on h s tei chests are not only 
piotureeque, but invest even inferior contents with a 
genuine appearance. He may not approve of metal 
sheeting manufactured in Glasgow, which does not 
promise to be either a thing of beauty or a warranty 
of origin. This is, perhaps, a sentimental objection ; 
but even sen'iment has still its place in business 
affairs. In any case, the company can only be re- 
garded as more or less experimental, and we do not 
think, after the experietce which thepublic has ba l 
of experimental undertakings, that it is likely to 
contribute the £50,000 for proving if the fix weeks 
trial of the Tea CI. est Syndicate does or does not justify 
the sanguine expectations upon whioh it bases its 
appeal for funds.— I inaneial News. 
PLANTING IN WYNAAD v. CEYLON. 
The following opinion of an old traveller, who 
ows both South Wynaad and Ceylon well, ia 
interesting :—" What I have seen cf Wynaad as 
a tea-producing country I like ; it is a fioo 
country with a grand future. The cLmate is 
glorious, hard, bracing, yet forcing, the sort that 
puts iron and grit into men's bones and keeps 
the blood in the vein and the gastric juices in 
work. What it wants is more men and more 
money. England should send its capitalists to 
South Wynaad, and if they cannot go themselves, 
let them send their money — plenty of it. Things 
do not perhaps go 60 fast there as in Ceylon ; but 
they are safer, and you are among men of the slow 
but sure stock and breed. Ceylon teas have fal'en 
off so much in quality of late years, or 
suoh large quantities of comparatively speak- 
ing ' ruboish ' have been shipped from Ceylon, that 
the ohief use to whioh Indian teas are put is that 
of supplying the deficiencies of the Ceylon produoe. 
A low quality and a large quantity of Ceylon tea 
mixed with a high quality and small quantity of 
Indian tea results in a merchantable article tbat 
is oonsumed by persons who do not dream that 
India has given the flavor and strength that they 
find palatabla in ' the cup that cheers but not 
inebriates' them. South Wynaad can easily oust 
Ceylon, and with more ease than that little Island 
did (with the help of India) ChiDa, irom the tea 
market." Wo will not say that we are prepared 
to go the whole length with our worthy corres- 
pondent, but there is truth in hiB observations 
enough to set Ceylon cogitating.— M. Times. 
SOME REFLECTIONS ON MR. B AMBER'S 
TEA BOOK. 
I do not suppose that e very one will agree with 
everything written in this book. Mr, Bamber has 
certain y brought himself up to the present level of 
tei science (or knowledge) aud probably has given us 
some new items togomiocut Note Bo-.ke. It is 
unfortunate from my view of the matter ttiut lie has 
not sisrted with a de&i i'iou of good tea" Be was 
employed to tibd out for us what is best in every way 
but in default if a e'efiuitiou I piesnme thbt he has 
t*ken as his standard the tea tint " selU" at the 
best prices. It does not follow that this is best for 
driuk:ng for tasta for sustaining qualities or tor any 
virtuo, but tho one of meeting the want of our ohiet 
market i. e. Mincing Lane. I leave alone all but 
> katcjneerns the maoe ted ; so 1 begin at page 150. 
Paye 150 of Mr. Bamboos book — E ,seutial oil " 
the quauii y largely imr aes when the growth of the 
baf is partially checked either by cold" &c. See. This 
could accoant for Hill teas being fluvoury. Plain 
gardei.8 also might make a certain quanti:y of fl?,- 
Vuury tea in cold weather, aud when attacked by 
green fly (see page 249 of Mr. Bomber's bcokj and 
when drinking lei is wanted this fine fluvoury tea 
could be kept to bring up the quality oi the rains 
tea— in fact to gain tho benefit ot bU nuii g for one's 
self. 
Page 152. 153 ibid. ' At the same time the tea 
with higher percentages ot Theine would have a 
greati r beneficial effect on tho human system, only 
this fact is disregarded.''— Not of course by the 
consum r, but as yet we hive nothing to do with him. 
Page 155 ibid. " This chaDge would go ou in im- 
perfectly dried leaf, and the mellowing of tbe tea 
when kept for a long period is probably due to 
this." This won't do for the tiaic, they want the 
tannin ai,d the tea, Freeh. Bat for this mellowing 
our tea would be valueless, but we don't get the 
benefit of it, We could get the same result by pro- 
cesses oi manufacture. 
Page 158 ibid. '-The y>. ung loaves of certain jats 
of tea whioh are of. a pinkjafi brown colour up tq 
