July 1, 1899.] THE TROt'ICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
19 
at Is 3.^d per oz. On Tuesday, in conseqnenoe of the 
disappointing bark sale.?, the market reaiaiued in- 
active, with sellers at Is 4d and bayers at Is 3d 
for August delivery. Wednesday brought a further 
decline ; a sale of 3,000 oz. or Ziiniusr's brand at Is lid 
per oz. actually took place, and the two leadiug 
German brands, which have been the subject of so 
much speculation, dropped to Is 2Jd spot and Is 3d 
August, but we heard of no sales at these figures, 
and by the afternoon prices had recovered by jd 
there being no eager sellers. Today the market again 
is quiet. 
Spices have continued very dull all the week, and 
at the public sales on Wednesday there was little 
disposition to purchase. Zanzibar cloves steady, but 
quiet, at Bgd per lb for delivery. There were none 
offered at auction, but some good Ceylon, slightly 
mixed headles?, sold at 3|:d to 4d, and dark mixed 
at 3Jd per lb. Cinnanon sold at SJd per lb for hard 
fifths, at for dull quillings, at 6|d for broken, 
and at 2jd for common bai-k. All the Singapore 
and Peuang Pepper in sale was bought in, but quo- 
tations remain the same aa our last report. Long 
pepper partly sold at SSs per cwt, line bold black 
Maugalore sold at 8|d per lb, and Ceylon white 
at 8J per lb. 
Annatto Seed,— Good bright West Indian seed 
was limited at 2.^-d per lb, another lot sold at IJd. 
Kola. — Boldish mouldy West Indian realised 2kl 
per lb, while fresh and good 6d was wanted. Small 
African quarters were bought iu at 4d per lb. Pri- 
vately retail sales of fresh West Indian have been 
made at 6d per lb. 
CiTRONELLA OiL. — Privately thero have been re-, 
tailsales iu tins at Is Ojd to Is OJd per lb spot ; drama 
are offered at Is. 
Vanilla. — At today's auctions only a moderate 
quantity offered, and chiefly sold at steady prices 
as follows: — Mauritius, good bold chocolate beans, 
9 inch 323 ; 8 to 8.) inch 2'33 6d to 283 ; to 8 inch 
26s; 7 to 7i inch, 2l3 6d to 25?; 6 to Ci'inch 2l3 
to 23s 6d ; 5 to G inch 233 to 28.3 (id per lb. 
Seychelles : 7,* to 8 inch 24s 6d ; 6 to 7 inch, 24-; 
6 to 6i inch, 233 6d ; 5 to 6 inch, 19s. Tahiti 
were all bought in at lOs per Yb.— Chemist and 
Drwjyist, April 29. 
INDIAN TEA AND TEA SHARES. 
Tea shares liave been rather in the back- 
ground during the week, says the Calcutta corre- 
spondent of tlio Pioneer writing on May 1.3, 
as tliere waa considerable doubt of prices being 
maintained at the opening s.^ile yesterday. There 
apparently was a want of pluck among buyers, 
resulting in a good many of the lots wlrich were 
offered being withdrawn for sliijment direct to 
London. I hear, too, that there was a tendency 
on buyers' part to divide the larger parcels^ in 
this way preventing the competition which teas 
offered at auction are supposed to obtain. I am 
glad to hear tiiac two firms at least among tiie 
brokers are determined to discourage amalgama- 
tion of this kind among the buyer^i. It is well 
known that this clubbing together to keep down 
prices exists to a great exteiit among the blenders 
and vendors of the ten-penny tea canisters in 
London ; and, as Messrs. VV. S. Cresswell & Co. 
remark in their tea report of yesier<lay, although 
" the position is an exceptionally strong one, un- 
less tea is handled more judiciously than hitherto, 
we shall soon see prices collapse and fall back to 
their old level." Prices realised at yesterday's 
sales were in many cases 30 per cent higher than 
the opening sale of last season, but in spite of tliis 
there has been little movement in tea stocks 
today, and prices aro Igwer all round thaa they 
^V«re last yivtinday, 
OUVAH COFFEE COMPANY, LIMITED. 
Report presented to the fourth ordinary gene- 
ral meeting of the Com]iany held at No. 5, Dowgate 
Hill, London, on Tuesday, the 9th May, at noon. 
The following accounts are now presented to 
shareholders, viz, : — 
Balance sheet made up to 31st July 1893. 
Profit and loss account for crop 1897-98. 
The receipts from the sale of produce were as 
under : — 
Tea from the Company's 
own estates ' 708,500 lb. 
Tea i';ade from bought 
leaf 106,247 
£ s d 
Total 814,747 ,, 26,421 2 10 
Coffee 375 cwt. 0 qr. 23 lb. 1,842 2 2 
Cocoa 185 cwt. 0 qr. 19 lb. 611 6 1 
Cinchona 17,963 lb. 200 15 8 
Sundry sales iu Ceylou 64 17 II 
Total receipts £29,140 4 8 
The total expenditure in Ceylon and London 
for the year amounted to £25,366 53 Id, and de- 
ducting this from the value of the produce a 
proMt is shewn in the year's working of £3,773 
193 7d, CO which has to be added the balance of 
£396 7s lOd, brought forward from last year. 
After deducting income tax the total at credit of 
profit and lo.s,s' is £3,9U9 4s 9d. 
An interim dividend of 1^ iter cent was paid 
on the capital of the Company on 23rd November 
1898, which absorbed £1,500 of tlie above sum, 
and the Directors now recommend that £2,000 be 
applied to the payment of a final dividend of two 
per cent, making Si per cent for the year, and 
that the balance of ,1^409 4s 9d be carried forward. 
Owing to drought experienced during the latter 
montlis of the financial year the estimated crop 
of tea was not secured, the yield from the 1,618 
acres in full and partial bearing being 438 lb. 
per acre against 475 ib. per acre in the previotis 
year. The market also ruled very low, and our 
tea realized 7'78d per lb. against 8'08d for the 
preceding season. 
The small coffee and cocoa crops sold at an aver- 
age of OSs 2d and 66s Id against 91s Id and 55a 
Id respecti\ely, and the cinchona realized an 
average of 2 6Sd per lb. 
The cost of tea planting and upkeep of 523 
acres of young tea not in bearing is included in 
the year's expenditure, and a sum of £2,037 6s Od 
spent on factory extension has been held up ia 
the balance sheet. 
The tea crop for 1898-99 is estimated at 750,000 
lb. So far the season has not been favourable, 
and pluckings liave been small, but with a return 
of favourable weather our Estate Manager con* 
sidera that the estimate can yet be secured. Ib 
is highly sati,siactory, however, that prices in- 
lluenced by short shipments from Ceylon and by 
an increased home an'l foreign demand, have 
hardened considerably since the con-imencement ot 
the year, and it is generally considered that we 
are not likely to see a return to the very low 
values current last year. 
Coffee pro,spect3 are better for the coming year. 
The crop is estimated at 3.O0O bushels, against 
1,882 bushels secured last year, and if tliis . ia 
realized it will materially swell the year's profit?. 
Only 23 acres are being planted with tea this 
season, a small area in comp.irisoii witii the 
plantings of recent years. This will considerably 
relieve expenditure antl rcleasg profits t<ii tlividQjj<4 
pur^o.ses, 
