Sept. 1, 1900.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTtJBIST. 
1?1 
After payment o£ an Interim Dividencl of five 
per cent, theie remaina a mm of RSS.OSl'S-l avail- 
able, which the Directors recommend bo applied as 
follows : — 
To a Final Dividend of 12 per 
cent, making a total of 17 per cent 
for the year .. .. E15,360-00 
To be carried forward. . .. 37,701-24 
R83,061-24 
The estimated crop for the season 1900-19 il is 
420,000 lb. of made tea, at an expenditure of R131,70O, 
inclading all expenditure on young clearings not in 
bearing. 
The Visiting Agent's reports can be seen by share- 
holders at the Company's office. 
Messrs. H Creasy and J W Vanderstraaten retire 
from the board by rotation, but are eligible for re- 
election. 
The shareholders are invited to elect an Auditor 
for the ensuing year. — By order of the Board, 
BAKJiR & Hall, Agents and Secretaries. 

PENRHOS ESTATES COMFMY. 
THE REPORT 
was as follows : — 
Directors. — Messrs. W Kingsbury and E M 
Shattock. 
The Directors have pleasure in laying before the 
Shareholders their Reports and Accounts for the year 
ended 30th June 1900. 
The amount of Tea secured was 242,841 lb.— 196,554 
lb. on Estate account, as against an estimate of 
165,0001b, shewing an increase over last season of 
38,448 lb «nd 46.287 lb manufactured from bought leaf, 
an increase over last Season of 3,373 lb. The Oom- 
parative table for the past four seasons will be found 
of interest : — 
Cose laid 
down in 
Crop iu Colombo Or without Net Average 
lb. in cents. Manure. Price. 
1896- 97 155,625 27-52 26 31 36 42 
1897- 98 145,250 26-23 2565 39 12 
1898- 99 158,106 25-41 24-05 41-03 
1899- 1900 196,554 23-74 22-32 37-46 
These figures refer to the Estate Tea only, and the 
Superintendent, Mr. J E Martin, deserves every credit 
for the way he has carried oa the working of the 
Estates, which are in excellent order. Prices were 
considerably below those of the previous two seasons, 
but this was due to a low market and to no fault 
in manufacture, and it will be noticed that the cost 
of production has again been very materially reduced. 
The total Crop secured cost, including Manure cts. 
24-58 per lb laid down iu Colombo, as against cts. 26-43 
the i^revious Season and realised a nett average price 
of cts, 36-96, as against cts, 40 27 in 1898/99. 
Included in the proceeds of Tea is a sum of 
R436-26. being balance proceeds of Tea unsold at 30th 
June, 1899, and estimated for. 
It will be noticed that a large sum has been spent 
daring the year under review on Buildings and Machi- 
nery. This was absolutely necessary, as the Factory 
was really only capable of turning out some I5,0001b. 
of Tea per mensem, whereas, in the busy months, 
25/30,000 have to be manufactured. 
An addition of 50' x 25' has been made to the fac- 
tory, making it now 150' long by sections 25' to 75' 
broad, whilst a Turbine, a new Roller, Desiccator 
and Sifter have been erected and are working satis- 
factorily. Previous to the erection of the Turbine, 
considerable dilliculty was experienced in getting suftt- 
cieut water power during the dry months, but no 
further trouble is anticipated in future. 
After payment of the Interest on Debentures, 
namely R3,030-00, the amount earned for the year 
(including R237-52 brought forward from last account) 
comes to R25,285-99 which is equal to nearly 17 per 
cent, on the Capital of the Company, as against 15i 
get eeeti. last Ssasou. Qt this sum El,500 Qf} was 
absorbed by the payment of an Interim Dividend of 
3 per cent, to the 31st of December last, and the 
Directors recommend that the balance, namely 
E20,785-09, be apportioned as follows ; — 
By the payment of a final dividend 
of 7 per cent, making 10 per cent 
for the Year RlU,50U-00 
By the payment of a Bonus to the 
Superintendent , 1,000 00 
By placing to Reserve Fund .. „ 9,000-00 
By carrying forward to the next ao- 
ffunt 28500 
The Acreage of the Company's Estate 
is as follows : — 
Old Tea- . . . . 508 Acres 
Tea over 4 years ... 25 
Tea not in bearing .. 24 ,, 
Forest.. ... .. 51 ,, 
Total Acreage ... 608 Acres. 
In terras of the Articles of Association, Mr. E M 
Shattock retires from the Board of Directors but, be- 
ing eligible offers himself for re-election. 
It will also be necessary to appoint an Auditor for 
Season 1900/1901. 
THE TEA CESS AND GREEN TEA. 
As an old Ceylon planter, and one of the lirst 
to start tea manufacture, it was cheering to read 
your vigorous article headed a " Tea Cess for 
India." Siuce I have become an Indian planter 
for the last two years I have consistently 
agitated in our local Planters' Association for a 
"tea cess" for Southern India, and though 
meeting with generous support here, the proposal 
when laid before the U.P.A.S.I., is invariably 
shelved as not being feasible, and all sorts of 
" bugbears," such as difficulty of collecting the 
cess, and enormous expense "that would be in- 
volved in so doing, are conjured up by the 
powers that run that august' assembly. With 
the cess, there would, of course, be appointed a 
Committee similar to the Thirty Committee in 
Ceylon to administer the fund, and I take it 
that one Committee would represent Southern 
India and be centralised at ' Madras ' in touclx 
with an official or two of the Madras Government, 
and one at Calcutta on the same lines. That 
the tax would be dlHicult to collect, I deny ; it 
would be very easy to notify the authorities at) 
each sliipping port that, with every Bill of Lading 
for tea a " cess " receipt must be attached. If 
planters chose to sell over the border, say Persia, 
Siam, or other adjoining countries, let them do 
so by all means iree of "cess," as that helps 
to relieve the strain on the London market, 
With the " cess " fund started, it would be, 
of course, most advisable to secure a well- 
paid energetic Secretary who would not be above 
pushing our interests in every way. I mentioa 
this as it is the rule among Indian papers, as far 
as I have seen it, to sneer at the "push" and 
"energy" with which Ceylon men advertise their 
teas. The conse<iuenee is that we get left behind 
in the swim. Take for instance, the Paris Exhi- 
bition. As far as "Southern India" is concerned 
we might just as well have never exhibited, aa 
have done so in the poor way that we did. No in- 
formation was available to this district as to pri« 
vate exhibits until too late to ship them, and no 
effort made to show up the intrinsic merits of our 
teas; which exist to afar larger extent than the 
British public are aware of. Indeed, I know it as 
a fact, that most, if not all, the teas made in this 
district for instance, have the same flavour and 
cUaracter as liigh :;rown Ceylons, yet we get as (| 
