July 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
31 
on tlie ov.tcr Vankalai Paar, but no oytsers wliat- 
evfi- were fouml on any of the otlier banks. The 
fe>v small patches of young oysters that were found 
on the ea.-st side of the Clieval Paar last year have 
en i i re 1 y ti i s a [ > j ■ ; ue d . 
4. The banks examineil oti' Karaitivu were 
the Dutch Moderagani, Kaaraitivu Paar, Alantua 
Paar, and Muttnvanatu Parr. No oysters were 
found on the Dutch Moderagani, Karraitivu 
Paar, and Alantua Paar. The Mnttuvaratu 
Paar, whieh -was so promising two years ago, I 
regret to report, failed completely. Duririg the 
two days enijjloyed in going carefully over tiiis 
bank only 120 oysters of ?j to 3i years old were 
found, so that practically the 72 millions of young 
oysters estimated to be on this bank in iMarch, 
1897, have completely disappeared, I had to re- 
port last year of a very large reduction in the 
number of oysters on this bank, but 1 then hoped 
that the oysters left, being older and stronger to 
resist attacks of lisli, would remain on the bank 
and come to maturity. The only evidence found 
of the cause of the disappearance of some of the 
oysteis was that of a few of tlie empty shells sent 
up by the dirers having a i)iece broken olftheni, 
large enough to have caused the death of the 
oysters, and it seemed to me that the pieces had 
been bitten oti' the shells by some iish. There 
were not, however, many of the empty shells 
damaged in that way. Out of a total of 55 picked 
up there were only 5 damaged, the remaining 50 
were perfect, and .'bowed no sign of the cause of 
the death of the oyster. The bulk of the oysters, 
however, must have been removed from the bank 
entirely otherwise, many more empty shells 
would have been found, and therefore, the 
cause of their removal remains a mystery. It 
is probable, however, that they might have been 
removed entirely by large fish such as skate, 
which would crusii the shells in their mouth, 
and swallow the fragments of shells along with 
the oyster. I have found the stomachs of rock 
fish, of 10 to 15 lb- in weight, that; have been 
caught on a bod of yonng oysters, full of frag- 
ments of the young oysters' shell and if such fisli 
swallow the oyster shell, it is veiy probable that 
larger fish able to crush the shell of older oysters 
would do likewise. 
5. The banks examined off Chilaw were the 
Udapankane Paar, Muttundi Paar, Jakenipiddi 
Paar, Kanukupany Paar, Chilaw Paar, Manatty 
Paar and Ungul 5 aai-. No oysters, however, 
were found on any of these banks. — I remain, sir, 
your obedient servant, 
(Signed), J. DONNAN, Master Attendant. 
To the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. 
^ . 
CEYLON TEA C0MPANIB:S : 
SCOTTISH OF.YLON— PROPRIETARY 
— RAGALLA. 
We publish reports of the annual general 
meetings of the above Companies, the latter 
of which alone declared no dividend. 
In the case of the Scottish Ceylon a slight 
falling-off in results held been reported, and 
the rise in exchange had added £500 to the 
expenses of production. The average price, 
too, was 34 cents down from that of 1897 ; 
nevertheless the Company was able to pay 
a satisfactory final dividend of ten per cent. 
But for the inconsistencjr of the seasons, 
apart from other causes, it would doubtless 
have been appreciably higher. 
In the Ceylon Proprietary Tea Estates 
Co, tUe rise ift excnaoge was responsible 
for a £900 increase in cost of production, 
Avhile on the other hand the Company's prices 
had kept level with those of the previous year. 
The Chairman, however, stated his opinion 
that they were still below what they should 
be. With from 220 to 2*50 acres of youug 
tea not yet in bearing, the declaration of 
four per cent dividend was creditable enough. 
No dividend from the Ragalla Company was 
something of a surprise, wheu the news re- 
ached us by cable. Kelburne, the Chairman 
has now said, had been ttieir disappoint- 
ing projiei-ty owmg, first, to the rapid failure 
of the old coffee on the estate, and then to 
the shade from the coffee-trees hindering 
the growth of the young tea which was 
put in. Reference was made to Mr. W. L. 
.Strachan andhis report, which we have already 
pnblished and which showed that in the 
Ragalla Group there was a fine possession 
which would rise superior to the handicap- 
ping incubus of Kelburne, more especially 
if the latter began to lose that character-. 
Though no dividend was paid, it was satis- 
factory to learn that the capital account 
would in all pi'obability be closed with the 
expenditure of £600 for the cuirent year, 
imless a Pelton AVheel were installed, cost- 
ing in all, £500. For this Company the 
dawn seems at hand. 
CEYLON TEA IN CANADA. 
STEONG MARKET REPOETED. 
We publish a cutting fi'om the " Mon- 
treal Daily Star," kindly sent us by a 
friend now visiting the Dominion, in which 
a remarkably strong market for tea is 
stated to have been the " featiire of the 
grocery trade " during the last week in April. 
So much so that local dealers in Montreal 
had, at the date under notice, April 26th, 
shipped to London packages of tea at under 
lOd per lb. to the number of 1,600! Accord- 
ingly the local demand for low priced teas 
became for them very difficult to meet and 
prices had risen in consequence. It is ftirther 
remarked that as China is not producing so 
much as hitherto, Ceylon and India blacks hav- 
ing driven out the Celestials' and as the 
former have been 11 millions lb. short of 
requirements, the deficiency cannot be 
remedied for some time; the Indian and (Jhina 
markets not opening till about the end of 
May, "while the small supply from Ceylon 
Avill hardly be noticed." 
We are surprised at the later statement ; 
but surely in view of such contingencies as that 
reported, it is, or rather it was, a mistaken 
policy for Ceylon producers to starve the 
London market, when there has been such a 
call for assistance that away West Canadian 
dealers have had to help in the supply 
and have been driven into a corner to 
meet local demands. Rises of -10 or 45 per 
cent are no doubt pleasing enough as results, 
but a little less of the starvation policy should 
increase sales immensely. We refer specially 
to the low-grade teas, concerning whiciti 
we see that fears are entertaimed in the 
Dominion that the Indian and China may 
not reach them till September or October. 
Meanv,'hile Ceylon should be able to som^ 
extent to step into the breach with softie 
brisk, ami svibstaiitial shipments, 
