July ], 1900.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
21 
3 qvs. 7 !'■>. has been mined and sold for£1,157 2i9i\ 
Htaco'it of £473 19.^ 5d. 
W<i are i'.dvise,! tliat the 
beinc 
worked are only oii-shoots, and it is expected 
that a hirger and mure valuable body of mineral 
will le reaciuid. 
The plumbago already secured has been cheaply 
obtained as our tunnels are oiily as yet driven 
some 150 feet into the face of the hill. Ihe 
working as it becomes deeper will be more expen 
sive, and il is possible that pumping plant may 
be required later on. 
The Directors have therefore determined to 
reserve the piofit made on the plumbago al- 
ready mined, to enable the Company to thoroughly 
pro'-pect what may become a valuable source of 
rtvi nue, 
The tea crop for 1900 is estimated at 812,100 
lb. Favourable weather has so far been e.K- 
perieuced, the crop secured to the 7th April 
being 301,950 lb. or 123,560 lb. in excess of 
the crop secured during the same period last 
year. 
The acreage of the Company's property is 
hew as follows : — 
Acres. 
Tea, over 5 years old .. 1,740 
Do planted Nov.— Dec. ..1895 117 
Do do .. 1896 151 
Do do .. 1897 133 
Do do ... 1898 23 
Do do .. 1899 18 
Area under Tea . . 2,182 
Area under Coffee and Cocoa 424 
Area under Fuel .. 367 
Forest Patna and Waste . . 515 
Total Area . . 3,488 acres 
Mr. P C Oswald, a member of the Board, re- 
tiies on tliis occasion, and being eligible, olfers 
himself for re-eleotion. 
Messrs. Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co., the 
Auditors, also ofi'er themselves fdr re-election. — 
By Older, J. Alec Koberts, Secretaiy. 
SPKING VALLEY COFFEE CO., LD. 
ANNUAL REPORT 
Presented to the Thirty-sixth Ordinary General 
Meeting of the Company to be held »t No. 5, 
Dowgate .Hill, London, on Thursday, 17r.h May, 
at 12 30 p.m. 
In accordance with the announcement containeil 
in the last Annual Report, the Company's financial 
year will, for the future, terminate on the 3ist 
December of each year in place of on the 31st Jnly, 
and in order to bring thi* into efT^ct and to comply 
with the provisions of the Companies' Acts, 
Accounts are now presented to Shareholders, viz. : 
Balance Sheet made up to 31st December, 1899 ; 
Prolit and Loss Account for the five months ended 
31st December, 1899. 
The result for this incomplete period is a loss of 
£131 16s 3d, which falls to be deducted from tlie 
sum of £372 6s 7d brought forward from the 
previous year leaving £240 10s 4d to be carried 
forward to the current year. 
Expenditure during the latter months of the 
year is always heavy in proportion to the crop 
secured, and this result must not therefore be 
accepted as a true index of the working of the 
property. 
The unfavourable climatic conditions referred to 
in the two preceding Annual Keporcs continued 
without) improvement! to the end of the year, but 
the Directors are glad to be able to report that 
since then mnch better pluckings have been 
secured. Our Manager, viitiisg on 9th April, 
sfcites that line showers had fallen, and that 
flushing will be heavy foi- some time. Crop 
secured to the 7th April shewed ,an increase of 
42,;'i40 lb. over that secured at the same date 
Icsr, year. 
Mr. Leon Famin, a member of the Board, 
retires on this occasion, and, being eligible, offers 
himself for re-election. Mes-irs. Deloitte, Dever, 
Griffiths & Co., the Auditors, also offer themselves 
for re-election. By ordei-, 
J. Alec Koberts, Secretary. 
THE MIDLAND (v EYLON) TE.i PLANTA- 
TIUKS CO., LTD. 
ANNUAL REPORT. 
Report of the Directors, to be submitted to the 
Shareholders at the Ordinary General Meeting, to 
ba held at 30, iMiucine; Line, E.G., on Friday, 25th 
May, 1900, at 12 o'clock noon. 
The Directors beg to submit the accounts, duly 
audited, for the year ending 31st December, 1899. 
The Keceipts for the Season are .. £9,670 16 11 
ies3 Working Expenses in Ceylon. . 7,011 8 0 
Leaving Gross Profit 
Prom which has to be deducted . 
Debenture Interest — 
2,659 8 11 
6 per cent, per annum 
on £15,000 
£900 
0 
0 
Interest on Loans 
172 
7 
11 
Fees to Trustees and 
Auditors, Office Ex- 
penses in Loudon, &c. 
97 
0 
7 
Preliminary Expenses, 
Balance written off . . 
133 
5 
6 
Depreciation on Machi- 
nery, die. 
400 
0 
0 
1;702 14 0 
And theBalxuce of Loss at Slst Decem- 
ber, 1898, being also chargeable 
There remains a sum of . , 
From which the Directors recommend 
a Dividend of 6 per cent, per annum 
on the Prefeieuce Shares, ^62,000, 
amounting to , , 
158 18 0 
And propose carrying to the next 
Account the Balance of . . . . £300 6 8 
The results of the year's trading enable the Direc» 
tors to write off ail arrears, both for Preliminary 
Expenses and the balance at debit of Profit and 
Lo^s at 3ist December, 1898 amounting togetherto 
Jl&SO and also to recommend a dividend on i£2,000 
Cnmulative Preference Shares from the dates of 
allotment. The London Agents have charged only a 
nominal sum for office rent and secretarial work, 
and the Directors, who have again waived their 
fees are glad to be able to place a sum of £400 
to the credit of a Depreciation Fund. 
The Tea sales for the year amounted to 386,313 
lb., being an excess of 6,313 lb. over the estimate, 
and the net average price was 5-91d. per lb., or 
nearly Jd. per lb, higher than that for the previous 
year. The Rupee exchange showed a slight advance, 
the average rate being Is 4-31d per Rupee. 
The acreiiges under cultivation are — 
Over four Under two 
years old. years old. Total, 
938 80 1,018 acres, 
and the crop for the current season is estimated at 
385,000 lb. Under the .^.dvice of BIr. Tathnm, the 
Visiting Agent, the Directors have sanctioned the 
application of manure to a farther 147 acres, thg 
