TilE TROPICAL AaRICtLTURIST. I May 1, 1903. 
from Kalugalla Estate ; 6,000 lb cardamoms, against 
an Expenditure of R85,498-70. The Hon Mr W H 
Figg resigned his seat on the Board on leaving the 
island, and Mr G- H Alston v;as appointed in his 
place. Of the Directors the Hon Mr J N Campbell 
retires by rotation, bat is eligible for re-election. The 
appointment of an Auditor for the curreut year will 
rest with the meeting. 

COLOMBO COMMERCIAL COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS 
presented to the eighth general meetiHg on Tuesday, 
the 17th March, 1903 :— 
The Directors have pleasure in placing before share- 
holders the profit , and loss account for the year ended 
30th September, 1902. Balance sheet made up to 30th 
Septem'ber; 1902. 
The above accounts shew the following figures :— 
Profit for the year after debiting all 
charges, interest on debentures, &c. . £ 7,999 11 7 
Add balance brought forward from last 
year 3,023 13 5 
£10,023 5 0 
Less transferred to reserve fund . . 1,500 0 0 
"Amount available for dividend, &c. ±8,523 5 0 
Interim dividends, of 3 per cent, on the preference 
capital and 2| per cent, on the ordinary capital were 
paid on the 15th September, 1902, and the Directors 
recommend that the following dividends be now de- 
clared, viz. : — 3 per cent, on the preference capital, 
making 6 per cent, for the year, and 5| per cent, on the 
ordinary capital, making 8 per cent, for the year, the 
latter free of income tax. 
After payment of the above dividends there will 
remain a balance of £1,832 3s Od, which the Directors 
propose should be carried forward to next year, 
The liquid assets in Ceylon appear in the Company's 
accounts at the same exchange as in last year's balance- 
sheet, viz, : — ^^Is Id. per rupee. 
The general reserve fund st&nds at £7,000, includ- 
ing the amount transferred in the present accounts. 
Hatherleigh estate, one of the Company's tea pro- 
perties, has been sold, and its cost has been deducted 
from the amount at which those assets were repre- 
sented in the last balance sheet. 
Mr. P C Oswald, a member of the Board, retires 
from office on this occasion, and, being eligible, offers 
himself for re-election. 
Messrs. Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co., the Auditors 
also offer themselves for re-election. 
TEA IN NATAL. 
Past and Present. 
{By "Planter") 
1 was much struck with the article on the '' Natal 
Tea Industry" by "Nemo," in your issue of the 
26th ultimo. Wholesome cviticiem from those who 
have been connected with industries attempted in 
Natal will at least nhow those who have the conduct 
of these affairs that there is atill room for improve- 
ment iu their products, while the facilities of climate, 
labour, soil, and proximity to markeln are cine-tenths 
as great as the countries whence the whole world has 
obtained its supply for a century. 
No Indian or Ceylon tea-maker wonld accept the 
carelessly-picked leaves that are seat in from the 
field here, and the class of michinery will have to 
be very much improved, and looked after by experi- 
enced men, before Natal can approach the standard 
, these other countries attained ten years ago, 1 do 
not m^au to say that it will take ten years to attain 
this standard — it need not take ten months — but both 
the field and the tea-house must be under the control 
of competent men, and your field will then produce 
more and your machines will turn out belter quality. 
What "Nemo"' has pointed out was patent to me 
when I came to Natal three ycfirs ago. and I have 
had the opportunity of comparing notes with the 
sons of brother planters from India and Ceylon who 
have been brought up on tea and coffee estates, and 
know their business thoroughly : and they have gone 
back with little fear of any competition from Natal 
while the present state of things lasts. 
r To the Editor of the " Natal Mercury,") 
Sir,— With "Nemo's" article on "Natal Tea," as a 
planter o£ long experience with one of the largest tea 
companies in Assam, I fully agree. Natal planters 
will not have an experienced Assam, Indian, or Ceylon 
planter on their estates as I found to my cost when I 
arrived, thinking that with long and up-to-date expe- 
rience and first class references I should have no diffi- 
culty in obtaining a billet. I was clfered the handsome 
salary of £8 per month I Having a trade to fall back 
upon, I preferred to work at it, raiher than give my 
experience and knowledge for such pitiful competence. 
Tlie methods of pruning and plucking, as described by 
' Nemo,' wonld not be tolerated even on a native 
garden in Assam, and might well be described as 
murdering the bushes. To hack at a tea bush with 
the ' largest size pruning kuife available ' can only 
result in a large percentage of the ' new wood dying 
back,' and forming knots, whi h it should be every 
planter's object to do away with. Plucking eight 
leaves and a bud is absurd, as the lower end of the 
shoot will have formed ' wood ' by the time eight leaves 
are out, and it is not usual to make tea out of wood, 
although, of course, it will make up the bulk, and help 
to swell the quantity. Tea, with the quantity of 
' sticks ' that most Natal teas show, would be almost 
unsaleable on the London market. I have before me 
some Natal tea, styled ' Pekoe ' ; it should be styled 
Pekoe Souchong, a much inferior grade. Pekoe should 
be a clean, whole-leafed tea, free from ' sticks ' and 
red leaf, and with a few ' tips ' ; this is partly made up 
of sticks and red leaf, the balance being a broken and 
coarpe Souchong leaf — it would not be considered on 
the London market even a fair Pekoe Souchong. 
'Nemo ' is quite right in stating that, by plucking two 
or three leaves and a bud, the quantity is not sacri- 
ficed ; this has been proved by experience, and the old 
custom of plucking four or five leaves and a bud has long 
been discontinued by up-to-date planters. — I am, &o. 
Assam Planteb. 
♦ 
RETURN OF MR. T. FAIRHURST FROM 
THE STRAITS. 
RUBBER TAPPING PROM PARA TREES. 
We have have to welcome back Mr. T 
Fairhurst, the well-known proprietor of St. 
Andrew and Ferham estates, Dimbula, who 
arrived by the P. & O. "Valetti" yester 
day after a visit of some weeks to the Straits. 
Mr. Fairhurst goes up to Ferham on Satur- 
day and will leave for Europe in about a 
fortnight's time— probably by the Bibby ss. 
"Lancashire" on April 7th, 
In a conversation with Mr. Fairhurst to- 
day we learn that he had been seeing; a good 
deel of rubbef in the Straits and was every- 
where struck with the fine growth displayed. 
He had not, however, seeii rubber growing 
in Ceylon and so could not institute com- 
parisons. Mr. Fairhurst assisted at the tap- 
ping of a specimen Para tree which was 32 
inches in circumference, 3 feet from the 
