Dec. 1, 1900.1 THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
413 
report which can be seea at the office of the Company. 
The Directors propose acting upon the advice given 
them, and trust that the result will be to the advan- 
tage of the shareholders. The Directors did not draw 
their fees for the latter half of the year and propose 
waiving Ihem. Mr. B F White retires in accordance 
with the Articles of Association, and, being eligible, 
offers h mself for re-election. The auditor Mr. J D 
Stewart Bogle, c. A., retires and offers himself for re- 
election. 
THE SOUTH TRAVANCORE TEA COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
DIRECTORS' REPORT, 
to be submitted at the fourth annual ordinary general 
meeting, to be held on Tuesday, October SOth. 
The directors beg to submit herewith their fo-:irth 
annual report and balance sheet for the year ending 
30th June, 1900. The outturn of tea was 311,709 lb. 
being 38,291 lb., below the original estimate, against 
387,961 lb., last year. This shortage was entirely due 
to an extremely severe and abnormal drought during 
a portion of the year, which adversely affected the 
flushes. The average price realised was 5"38d. per lb., 
as against 6"03d. last year and 5'55d. the year before, 
The gross profit v\as ±'2.158 133 lid., against £3,339 
153 lOd,, last year and il,304 15s 3d-, the year before. 
After providing £250 for the Debenture Sinking Fund 
and placing £300 to coast advance reserve, the nett 
profit amounts to £853 19g. which, with a balance of 
£467 16s 2d. carried forward from last year, leaves a 
sum of £1,821 15s 2d. which the Directors propose to 
dispofce of as follows :— Preference dividend for the 
year £825. (This has already been paid). Leaving a 
balance to be carried fsrward of £496 15s 2d. In view 
of the present depressed state of the tea market, and 
of the falling off in the yield and prices during the 
pkst season, the Directors do not propose to distri- 
bute any dividend on the ordinary shares, but re- 
commend that the balance of £496 15s 2d. be carried 
forward to the new year. The area under tea now 
amounts to 730 acres. The reports on the condition 
of the Company's properties from the Manager and 
the Visiting Agent are of a satisfactory nature. Mr. 
Stewart and Mr. MacDonald continue to give the Dir- 
ectors satisfaction in the exercise of their duties, and 
the falling off in the profits is in no way their fault. 
The Manager's estimate for the present season ia 
340,0C0 lb. In accordance with tbe Articles of Asso- 
ciation, Mr. T C Owen retires by rotation, and, be- 
ing qualified, offers himself for re-election. The 
Auditors, Messrs. Jackson, Taylor, Abernethy & Co., 
retire, and. being eligible, offer themselves for re- 
election. 
THE f^AROLTNA TEA COMPAISiY OF 
CEYLON, LTD. 
REPORT 
of the Directors to be submitted at the eighth 
annual general meeting of shareholders, to be held 
at the offices of the agents, Messrs. Frith, Sands & 
Co., Winchester House, Old Broad Street, E.C , on 
the 31st October, 1900. 
Your Directors beg to submit the balance sheet 
and profit and loss account for the year ending SOuh 
June, 1900. The nett profit is £6,926 8s 4d ; amount 
brought forward from last year at credit of the 
ordinary shares £1,199 9s 9d == a08,125 IBs Id. From 
which has to be deducted debenture interest £2,450, 
leaving an available balance of £5,675 18s Id which 
it is proposed to appropriate .as follows : — To re- 
serve fund £1,200; to new clearings, buildings and 
machinery £1,000; to a dividend on the ordinary 
shares of 6 per cent, (of which i\ per cent, was paid 
on 26th April, 1900) £3,000 = £5,200 ; and to carry 
forvyard to the credit of the ordinary shares £475 
18^ id. 
The crops secured during the season compare as 
follows with those for season 1898 1899 :— Tea from 
estates 1899-1900, 1,131,3331b,; 1898-18,99, 961,7571b. 
Cocoa from estates 1899-1900, -414 cwt. 1898-1899 555 
cwt. The tea crop cost 4'78d. free on board Colombo, 
as against 4-61 per lb., in 1898 1899, the increase being 
due to the higher average rate of exchange of 
Is 4 1.5-32d., as against 13 4 9-32d. The average gross 
sale price was 7.06d., as against 7'65d. for the previous 
season. This fall being about on a par with the 
decline established in Ceylon teas generally, and 
alone more than accounts for the diminished profit 
shown by the returns. The yield of cocoa would have 
been larger had the UdapoUsj sstate not suffered 
from severe drought during the blossoming season. 
The excess in the total expenditure on crop account 
ever that -for the previous season, was caused by the 
increased crop of tea, and by the inclusion of a sum 
of R4,653'80, equivalent to £319 6s 9d. for new clear- 
ings and upkeep, the cost of which in previous seasons 
had been placed to capital account. Including 
the sum of £1,200 to be added this year, the 
Reserve Fund now amounts to £9,600, besides which 
£1,000 is being placed to the credit of expenditure on 
new buildings, machinery, &c,, to cover recent out- 
lays on the Carolina factory, as referred to in the 
last report. Your Directors are pleased to state that 
in a special report on the company's estates, which 
was made by Mr. Megginson, the late estates Man- 
ager, during his visit to Ceylon this year, he con- 
firms the advices previously before them that the 
properties are in a thoroughly satisfactory condition ; 
that tbe extensions to the tea area, on which much 
capita! has eqen expended since the Company's for- 
mation, have proved most successful and are giving a 
full return on the outlay ; and that the estates are 
being worked on the most economic lines, consistent 
with efficiency and a due regard to their future. The 
staff in the Company's employ continues to give 
entire satisfiiction. Your Directors have appointed 
Mr. Wharram Megginson to a seat on the Board, 
rendered vacant by the retirement of the late General 
Hopkinson, c.s.i., so that they might avail themselves 
of his intimate knowledge of the estates and their 
working. The Directors retiring Ly rotation are Mr. 
H St. J Oscar Thompson and Mr. CAW Cameron , 
who, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election. 
PROGRESS AND PLANTING IN NYSSA- 
LAND, B. C. AFRICA. 
{By an ex- Ceylon Planter.) 
MiiANJi, B. C. Africa, Oct. 1st, 1900. 
I had a run into Blantyre to see the annual 
AGRI-HORTICULTURAL SHOW 
■which took place on the 5th and 6th ultimo. 
My daughter and I left here at 7 a. m. and 
reached Blantyre, 40 miles, at 6 p. m , journey- 
ing in a machella, hammock slung on a 
bamboo pole with eight carriers each. What 
physique these niggers have to carry my weight, 
13 stone, two men at a time, one at eacli end 
of the pole, changing from one shoulder to the 
other and relieving each other by turns es 
they get tired, trotting along like a pair of 
Pegu ponies— coolies could not do it. Four men 
to a chair with a lady in it pumps the Tamil 
in no time. The Show was not up to niucli. 
The people in this country do not seem to realise 
the amount of good such an exhibition does, 
and people say : " Oh ! what have I got to exhibit, 
so and so has better than me ; it's no use my 
trying, I'll get no prize, &c." Of course if every- 
body was to say and think the same, there would 
be no exhibitors at all. 
We took in 20 exhibits and got 14 1st prizes, 
the principal ones being for coffee, ginger, tur- 
msric, tea, fibre, butter, jams, cheesci The 
