July 1, 1899.] THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, 
59 
It will be seen there is no actual loss on the year a 
trading, but that the deficiency is caused by previous 
debits, and the legal expenses in connection with the 
mortgages to the trustees for the debenture-holders, 
and to the London agents. In consequence of the 
year's trading being so unfavourable, the directors 
have waived their fees, and the London agents, Messrs. 
M. P. Evans & Co., have made no charge for secret- 
arial work and office rent. The tea sales for the 
season amounted to 381,9401b, the net average being 
5'49d per lb. The rupee exchange was again higher, 
and averaged Is 4-20d. The acreages under cultivation 
are : Over four years old, 938 ; under two years old, 49 ; 
total, 987 acres, and the crop for the current season is 
estimated at 380,0001b, of which there have been sold 
to date 29..8801b, at a net average of 7d per lb, a satis- 
factory advance on last year, and, as the prices now 
ruling in the London market for Ceylon teas are much 
higher than they have been for some time, the 
directors trust they may be able next season to present 
to the shareholders a statement of a more encouraging 
nature. It will be noticed that since the date of the 
last report the working capital of the company has 
been increased by £2,000 raised in preference shares. 
The company's visiting agent, Mr. W. R. Tatham, 
reports in a recent letter that the estates are in good 
order, and the iDungalow and other buildings are in 
good repair. By his advice the directors have sanc- 
tioned a new clearing of thirty-one acres of land lying 
between Blaokstone and Kenilworth, which are well 
adapted for the growth of tea. Mr. Tatham states 
that the work of clearing and draining is being care- 
fully carried out by the superintendent, Mr. Campbell. 
—H. S C. Mail, May 26. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
The Draft on Tea. — This question is exercising 
the mind of the trade, and there is considerable 
opposition to the proposals for abolisjjing the draft 
allowance on tea at public auction in London. In 
the recent circular issued by the Indian Tea As- 
sociation of London and the Ceylon Association of 
London, the signatures of growers and importers of 
Indian, Ceylon, Java, or China teas were invited to 
an agreement binding them to refuse the draft allow- 
ance to buyers in all tea sales after a fixed date. 
In an explanatory memorandum circulated with the 
form of agreement, one of the chief reasons advanced 
for making the proposed change is that the draft 
allowance " is a survival from times and conditions 
which no longer prevail." It is contended by the 
trade that the draft allowance is certainly a "survival" 
from old times, and this long-established custom ought 
not to be lightly set aside. The question raised, the 
" Grocer " points out, is one of considerable import- 
ance affecting not only the Indian and Ceylon tea 
trade, but the tea trade in general. Retailers will 
naturally want to hear strong arguments before they 
endorse the Indo-Ceylonese proposal— stronger argu- 
ments, probably, than those advanced in the quoted 
memorandum. For example, it is said that what 
with draft and turn-of-scale allowance, buyers last 
year received "five-million pounds of tea more than 
they paid for." Surely that suggestion nullifies 
itself. People who buy do not usually receive 
more than they actually pay for, although they 
may receive more than they nominally pay 
for. We mean that if five million pounds of tea v/era 
handed over to buyers, that fact is large enough to 
show that their sellers did no more than they were 
properly expected to do ; the prices paid were paid 
reckoning that fact in with them. Possibly the sys- 
tem of paying for the exact quantity bought may be 
a preferable one, but such a change as is proposed 
cannot justly be made unless all the parties concerned 
have their eyes open, so that the hearing of the change 
on future buying may be thoroughly understood. The 
real reason for the change is that set out in paragraph 
No. 1 in the memorandum namely, " the profit on t«a 
cultivation having reached such a narrow margin." 
The growers in India and Ceylon have cut down there, 
and are now wishful to cut down here. We should not 
have thought the Indian and Ceylon trade had been 
really so bad as all that, though we can quite under- 
stand why cutting down should be attempted if people 
find them.selves, or think themselves, strong enough 
to do it. According to the " Produce Markets' Re- 
view," this draft was not allowed for loss of weight 
only, but was intende'i to cover all sorts of other 
contingencies arising from the nature of the trade, 
such as the occasional refusal of any allowance for 
damage, false package, &c., after delivery from the 
public warehouses. Of course, also buying at original 
landed weights, the trade accept a great risk when 
delivery is delayed, as it often is, and they must have 
some margin in return. 
Not so Bad as it Looks. — It might be thought on 
looking at the figures representing the Imports of 
Indian and Ceylon tea to the United States and 
Canada for the first three months of the year that 
the demand was on the decline in North America. 
For the correspondining periods in 1897 and 
1899 the amounts respectively were 4,460,943 lb. 
and 3,155,099 lb., while for the first three 
months of the current year the quantity taken was 
only 2,935,8851b. The explanation is that in 1897 the 
imports were unusually large owing to the fear which 
then existed of an alteration in the tea duty in the 
States, while the slight reduction in the first quarter 
of the present year is attributed to the recent high 
prices. 
Planting in British Central Africa.— The reve- 
nue of the Brtish Central Africa Protectorate for the 
year ending March 31 last exceeded the estima te by 
several thousand pounds. The rainy season which 
has just come to a close has been a comparatively 
healthy one. Very few new planters settled in the 
Protectorate last year, but the area under coffee is 
constantly increasing, as also is the bearing capacity 
of the trees planted during recent years. There haa 
been an increase in the export of rubber, but owing to 
the frequent bush fires British Central Africa is not an 
abundant rubber country, and is not likely to become 
a serious rival to Brazil or West Africa. — B. and C. 
Mail, May 26. 
♦ 
THE INDIAN TEA MARKET : 
ANNUAL REPORT AND PROSPECTS, 
The annual report of Messrs. Carritt & Co, 
deals solely with Indian tea, and the greater 
portion has been forestalled so far as facts 
and figtires are concerned in the earlier 
Broking reports. There are, however, a few 
passages which are worth taking over— for 
instance : — 
The result of the past year's working has again 
been unsatisfactory to growers. The chief causes 
are to be found in the sameness of quality of a 
very large proportion of the crop, the unequal dis- 
tribution of supply, the concentration of buying 
power in the London market and high exchange. 
The consistently low level of value, increased 
deliveries at home, together with the certainty of 
a crop practically the same weight as last year, 
and the vmcertainty of a proportionately better 
price being obtainable, opposed the idea of cur- 
tailing outturn with a view to improving quality. 
The character of the crop, which has largely 
consisted of ordinary medium quality, has not 
tended to bring about any appreciable advance 
in sterling values, though, apart from other fea- 
tures of the trade, it should have been suffici- 
ently good to maintain last year's level. Owing 
to improved facilities of transport, and also to ac| 
celerated services, the crop has reached the market 
quicker than usual ; no adverse influences have 
temporarily impeded transit or have tended to 
check the rapid forwarding of supplies. 
Next we have an altered condition of the 
trade dealt with and an evil of some magni* 
