Sept. 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AJ&RICULTURIST. 
165 
PENKHOS ESTATES COMPANY OF 
CEYLON, LIMITED. 
REPORT. 
The report of the directors for the past 
year which is as follows was taken as read : — 
I^The Directors have pleasure in laying before the 
Shareholders their Beport and Accounts for the 
year ended 30th June, 1899. 
The amount of Tea secured was 201,020 lb.— 158,106 
lb. on Estate account, as against an estimate of 
165,000 lb. and 42,914 lb. manufactured from 
bought leaf. 
In view of the severe drought during the latter 
half of the Season, the crop may be considered sat- 
isfactory. 
The following figures, shewing the results of 
the past three Seasons, will be found interesting. 
O.S 
— 'i'S 
rt S oj 
J, H O O 
S § I |-S 
1896- 97 ... 155,625 ... 27-.52 ... 26-31 ... 36'42 
1897- 98 ... 145,2.50 ... 26-23 ... 25-65 ... 39-12 
1898- 99 ... 158,106 ... 25-41 ... 24-05 ... 41-03 
These figures refer to the Estate tea only. 
As regards the Season under review, the total 
crop secured has cost, laid in Colombo, cts., 28-43, 
and has realized a nett average price of cts 40-27. 
Included in the proceeds of tea is a sum of 
R506-80, being balance proceeds of tea unsold at 
30th of June last year and estimated for. 
After payment of the Interest on Debentures, 
namely, R 3,030-00, the amount at credit of Profit 
and Loss Account is R23,237-52, which is equal to 
15.V per cent on the Capital of the Company, 
as against 9 per cent last Season, and 5| per cent 
the year before ; this may be considered very sat- 
isfactory. , 
The Directors recommend that this sum be appor- 
tioned as follows :— 
By the payment of a dividend of 10 per 
cent for the year ... ... R 1.5,000-00 
By the payment of a bonus to the 
Superintendent ... ... „ 1.000-00 
By placing to Reserve fund ... ,, 7000-00 
By carrying forward to the next 
Account ... ••• •■• II 237-ow 
R 23,237-52 
The Direciors desire to place on record their 
appreciation of Mr. J. E. Martin's management 
of the Estates during the Season under review. 
It is proposed to open a further 10 acres in Tea 
during the coming Season, and another '20 acres 
in 1900-1901, there being sufficient Capital in hand 
to do this. 
The Acreage of the Company's Estates is as fol- 
lows :— _ . 
Old Tea ... ... 508 Acres 
Tea under four years ... 25 „ 
Tea not in bearing ... 24 „ 
Forest ■■■ ■•• 51 >> 
Waste and Patna Land ... 212 „ 
Total 820 acres 
In terms of the Articles of Association, Mr. W 
B. Kingsbury retires from the Board of Directors, 
but being eligible, offers himself for re-election. 
THE FUTURE OF COFFEE, 
(By a Planter in India.) 
The whole of my argument fcuvna on ths supposed 
iacre.i-e in consumption, the check oa pi-O'-'uciioa, aud 
the probiblhty of a rise in the rate of Brazilian ex- 
change. A3 regards the first condition, I rely mainly 
on the analogy of 1881-86, but there is plenty of direct 
evidence that comsumption is increasing. It is 
true that 
THE CONSUMPTION OP COFPEB 
in the United Kingdom has not inorefised with 
the population, but the Westminster Gazette re- 
ports an enormous increase in the ye?^r ending 
March last in the number of cups of coffee 
sold in refreshment rooms. One firm aloi e usyJ 
134 tons of coSee in 1898-99 for this purpose, 
against 48 tons in 1897-98. Still, it is to the great 
coffee consuming countries of the Continent and 
America that we must mainly look to dispose of the 
increased production. The average annual consump- 
tion in ounces per head of population of late has been 
as follows : — Holland, 370 ; Denmark. 247 ; Belgium, 
176; United States, 155 ; Switzerland, 112; Germany, 
78; France, 53; Austria, b2; Italy, 17; Great 
Britain, 11 ; Spain, 9 ; Enssia, 3. The British 
Consul at Hamburg, which is the great importing 
centre for Germany and its immediate neighbours, 
reports that, as a uataral conser[uenoe of the low price 
of coffee in 1898 (about M. a lb. in spite of high im- 
port duties), there is a largely increased consumption 
in Germany and other countries. The following 
figures for deliveries in the United States are from 
tlie American Grocer : — 
1896-7 1897-8 1898-9 
Avg. monthly deliveries. 424,049 503,026 497,435 bafes. 
In 1897-98 the deliveries were the highest on record 
and unduly stimulated by the fe^ir of a duty, but those 
of 1898-99 show little falling off. Yet with these 
heavy deliveries, the American Grocer says, there was 
no gain in stocks, showing that the coffee actually went 
into consumption. This consumption was per head 
of population :— In 1896, 8-71bs ; in 1897, 10-9lb.; in 
1898, 10-7lb. The New York correspondent of the 
Grocer gives, the following consumption of made coffee 
per head of population : — In 1893, 14 gallons; in 1898, 
19 46 gallons. He attributes the increase to the great 
roasting firms selling coffee at -StL alb., and estimates 
that nearly four times as much coffee is drunk as there 
is tea, because coffee is the cheaper beverage. The 
English retail price of coffee has remained at about 
Is. 8rf. a lb, for the last 25 years, whet'ner the whole- 
sale price was high or low. If cheap coffee was 
pushed in England as in America, we might see a 
great increase in the consumption of the United 
Kingdom. 
Turning next to the 
CHECK ON PRODUCTION, 
the following facts will show! considerably understated 
my case. From Mexico, Ceylon planters who have tried 
coffee cultivation there are returning and reporting 
in the Ceylon Observer that cultivation is uaremnnera- 
tive at present prices. A local (Mexican) paper 
says : — "The present price of coffee offers no margin 
to planters worth talking about. It is plain therefore 
that plantations v/ill be abandoned and the crops 
reduced until prices rise again. It will be remembered 
that about 15 years ago, under very simitar circtinistai,e';e 
an extensive area went oict of cultivation." From 
Ecuador and Venezuela it is reported coffee is being 
abandoned for new industries. Probably the same is 
true of the other Central American countries, as we 
know they all complain of the scarcity of money 
hampering trade ; and a disease has apreared in 
Guatemala and Nicaragua " which has made many 
plantations valueless." The British Consul at Rio 
reports the same movement toward new industries, 
and says : — " On more than one occasion the current 
pi-ice of coffee did not cover the carvis^^ge fr'^ra the 
interior, so that it is fully expected by those intar- 
eatSij that, owing to neglect in clearing the trees and 
the abandonment of new plan^ir- ■ p 
will show a g adual dimiiintimi , 
sp\t3 of the ripriiQ'stic views of t'lv , , 
pan'o, th^ B.'AZili- ,1") p ip.n'S do r.'i.. . .^.j tySiij, 
tha.t " thd coffiij i-jiiustr? is no Ion:; r j i.viag onn," 
ana that even estates like the saa P.iulo Coffee 
Estates, bought at comparatively low prices and 
worked by cheap European capital, are not ramunera- 
