122 
THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST [Aug. 1, 1902. 
fund of £2,500, established an insurance and 
contingency fund of £5,000, and written down 
machinery, fittings, &c. , at 15 per cent, per 
annum. A considerable amount of the reserve 
fund was in gilt-edg;ed securities. The output 
had grown immensely during tiie ten years, but 
the percentage of net profits had decreased. Tht 
grocery trade had not been in the most satis- 
factory position during the i)ast year. Competition 
was severe and continuous, and it was only by 
rigid economy, prudence, and forethought that a 
cash business could prosper. Notwithstanding 
the depressed trade of the country and the keeu 
competition, the board came before the share- 
holders with a record balance-sheet. They proposed 
to pay a dividend of 15 per cent, and a bonus of 
2i per cent), per ancum, to transfer to the 
provident fund £500, to put £13,000 to reserve, 
to allocate £441 to insurance and contingency 
fund, and to carry forward £2,2^1. It was his 
wish, as the second largest shareholder, to per- 
severe in increasing the reserve fund until it 
amounted to £150,000 (the total amount of the 
capital of tlie company), invested in gilt-edged 
securities. For the past three years the trade had 
been agitated by the problem of increased duty. 
He tliought that the company's grocer customers 
migh*'- safely dismiss from their minds all fears 
that any Chancellor of ihe Exchequer would again 
increase the duty on tea, and the conviction of 
the board was that the present Chancellor or his 
successors would bring that duty down to 4d., 
the amount at which it stood before the first war 
Budget was introduced. Tea was a necessity of 
life to the great majority of the toiling millions of 
the British Empire, and the consumption per head 
was steadily growing. The Indian and Ceylon 
tea-growing industries were sutteriug from the 
increased taxation. It seemed unreasonable that 
tea should pay an impost of nearly £6,000,000 
upon a value of £7,500,000. In Indian and Ceylon 
producing circles there were rumours of combin- 
ations and restricted output, but the board believed 
that these were doomed to failure. Mr. A. 
Eichardson seconded the motion, which was 
adopted. — London Times, June 21. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Queensland Sugar Plantation : Sold at 
£5 AN ACEE.— Brisbane, June 19. — The Fairleigh 
sugar plantation at Mackay has been sold to a 
syndicate, representing Maryborough and Bun- 
daberg investors, at a price variously stated from 
£40,000 to £45,000. The estate comprises 9,000 
acres. It has nearly twenty miles of tramways 
and a mill capable of making ten thousand tons of 
sugar per annum. — Austmliein paper . 
The Great Western Tea Estate Com- 
pany. — All concerned in the Great Western 
Tea Estate Company of Ceylon are to be 
congratulated on the rosy tale which Mr. J. C. 
Dunbar, the Chairman, was able to tell at 
the annual general meeting. A dividend 
of 11 per cent was declared, a result which 
in the present state of the industry must 
be considered remarkable. R74,283'75 were 
available for distribution. A sum of K6,833-70 
was set aside for depreciation ; R7,500 was 
placed to reserve account and a balance of 
rt2,543'75 and theremainingR64,240is absorbed 
by the dividend. The Chairman's remarks 
make interesting, and to the shareholders in 
the Company, delectable reading. 
Green Tea-makers — should note the 
account of the Drummond Deane process, 
given by "The Agent" and quoted in our 
daily and T.A. 
Ceylon Trees and Flowering Plants. 
— We have to acknowledge receipt of a copy 
of a descriptive catalogue of the more useful 
trees and flowering plants of the Western 
and Sabaragamuwa Provinces by Mr. F 
Lewis, F.L s , of the Forest Department. 
It has been reprinted, at the Government 
Printing Office, from the Asiatic iiociety's 
Journal. 
A Collection of Dwarf Trees Imported 
FROM Japan— by Me.'^srs Barr and Sons— is ex- 
hibited at the Uoyal Botanic Society's Gardens, 
Regent's-park, Several of ihem are of great age, 
a fine ' tliuja obtusa ' being stated to be a century 
old, and all have been carefully trained ^^•ilh 
that skill and patience which the .Japanese biing 
to bear on this novel form oi arboriculture. There 
was quite a forest of pigmy trees. These trees 
can bb successfully kept in health, despite tlie 
vagaries of our climate, with very little trouble. 
— L. and C. Express, June 20. 
Prickly Heat. — This, in some cases, is a 
troublesome affection during the hot season. The^ 
writer has found the following treatment effective, 
especially in the early stages. First, moisten the 
parts afiected with water, then dust over with a 
small quantity of white oxide of zinc and rub 
gently with wet fingers until it forms a paste. 
This will soon dry and leave the appearance of a 
white wash. Repeat night and morning until the 
itching and red appearance have entirely dis- 
appeared. S(mietimes the ointment of white oxide 
of zinc is used, but this is greasy and disagree- 
able. Wlie;e there is a general tendency to prickly 
heat, immediately after the morning bath dust 
over with poYifder composed of one-third parts of 
each of the following, viz ; white oxide of zinc, 
boric or boracic acid in powder and starch powder 
well shaken together. —Agricultural News, June 7. 
"Muir" Tea Company Reports. —The 
report of the Amalgamated Tea Estates Com 
pany. Ltd., for the year ending 30th 
Norember. which appears in our daily and 
T. A- is fairly satisfactory. The crop 
gathered from the Company's estates was 
some 180,917 lb. in excess of the previous 
year; but the prices obtained fell 'eSdperlb. 
This is attributed to the general "low 
range of values for Darjeeling tea in the 
London market." The Managing Agents and 
the London Agents have renounced the 
emoluments due to ttern which has some- 
what relieved the revenue account. Dividend 
at the rate of 5 per cent per annum is paid 
on the first 6 months of the year ; but in 
the latter half they have had to content 
themselves with re-invigorating the Reserve 
account by £5,000 and carr-ying forward to 
next year £8,002 1.5s 3d. The Consolidated 
Tea and Lands Company, Ltd., whose report 
we published also had a considerable 
shortage of crop having plucked liner and 
secured a rise in their prices of |d per lb. 
ISotwithstanding they were unable to pay 
a dividend, but placed £41,634 Os 7d to 
Reserve, and a sum of £2,055 9s 5d to the 
preliminary expenses account. The report, 
however, predicts good times to come. 
