■ 8 
THE TEOPICAL AGRICUTURISt. 
[Sept. 1, 1899. 
us. That state of things has, I hope, now finally 
l)asseil away. At all events, we look forward in 
tlie near future to a much fjreater stability with 
rcijard to our Mauritius interests. Now, with re- 
gard to the accounts, you will see that the accept- 
ances and accounts payable are less by some 
£9,000 than they were in the previous year. Witli 
regard to Mauritius the item £99,753 for Mauri- 
tius Sugar Estates, including land under reali- 
sation, has been reduced by £2,000, because is 
tiie previous year it stood at £101,000 odd. This 
we have received on account of the capital due, 
and, with regard to the interest which is due, 
tjiat has been fairly met. I think the matter is 
therefore in a satisfactory state. There is a new 
item advances to coolies, v/hich was formerly in- 
cluded in tiie sundry accounts receivable. That 
item lias been stated separately in order to show 
■what those advances were. The Ceylon expenditure 
is £40,000, as against £39,000 odd in the previous 
ye^r. You will say it is a curious thing that whereas 
youf crop was less in Ceylon than in the previous 
year, the expenses have been somewhat greater ; 
but that is not so, because in rupees the expenses 
were K5,S0,000, against K6,01,000 in the previons 
period. It is the higher rate of exchange which 
makes the amount appear larger. I think that is 
all I need say to you, and, in conclusion, you will 
hee from the accounts of our estates in Ceylon that 
there are now 5,200 acres of tea in bearing and 
SCO acres of tea not in bearing. When all that 
comes into bearing we shall have over 6,000 acres 
of tea, and althovtgh some of our estates increase 
but slowly in productiveness, yet our manager tells 
us that our crops of tea must eventually largely 
increase. With regard to Mauritius, I believe the 
Indian legislation which I have alluded to, in the 
opinion of all people connected with Mauritius, 
puts a very different aspect on the sugar industry 
theie, and I consider, therefore, that I may con- 
fidently say to you that the outlook for the 
company this year is an encouraging one, 
(.Applause.) I would say only one word more 
with regard to dividend : we recommend that 
a dividend be paid at the rate of four per cent. 
I now beg to move : " That the directors' 
i-enort and statement of accounts to March 31, 
1899, now submitted, be, and they are hereby, 
adopted." 
Mr. Claude E S Bishop seconded tlie 
motion. , 
In the course of a discussion which ensued, in 
which Surgeon-Colonel Porter, Mr. Parsons, Mr. 
Gillingliam, and Mr. Nicholson took part, tlie 
latter gentleman stated that he had a great deal 
of experience of Ceylon and Mauritius, and lie 
considered after the year those countries had 
passed through the directors iiad managed the 
company exceedingly well to have been enabled 
to pay a dividend of 4 per cent. He also con- 
sidered the stiareholders owed a debt of gratitude 
to Sir James Westland for the steps he had 
taken in promoting the Indian legislation 
with regard to the sugar alluded to by the 
chairman. . . , , , 
On the proposition of Chairman, seconded by 
Mr. Macaskie, Mr. t^uintin Hogg was re elected a 
director. 
The motion was shen put and carried unani- 
mously. ^ 1 1 • 1 
Messr=i. Welton, Jones and Co. having been 
re aiipi'inted auditors, a voi,e of thanks was 
given to the chaiiman and directors, and 
the jiiuceedings terminated.—//, tfc 6'. il/«j^,' 
July iil. 
COFFEE IN HAWAII. 
The export of coffee from the Hawaiian Inlands 
anionuts to about 3,000 bags early, nearly all of which 
f/ofs to United States ports. The finest coffee is 
produced iu the Koua district, Hawaii, where the trees 
are cultivated 2,000 to 2,500 feet above the sea level. 
The industry is still in the experimental age, having 
promise o£ a great fatnre. A personal study on the 
spot bas led Caspar Whitney, a contributor to Burpei 's 
H'ccldi/, to the opinion that coffee-growing is the 
industry which is going to settle up the islands 
especially Hawaii. Coffee lands are to be found on 
all the islands, but Hawaii is the only one of the 
group that has land for public settlement. 
The principal coffee districts in the island of Hawaii 
are Koua (48,000 acres), Puna (67,000 acres), and 
Hilo (195,000 acres); bnt a comparatively small per- 
centage of this acreage is planted with coffee or 
suitable to its cultivat'on. In all three of these 
districts, and especially in Hilo, the Government is 
surveying and opening land for settlement as rapidly 
as possible. And as fast as the land is put on the 
market it is being taken np ; for the Government sells 
it for from $5 to SIO per acre, while the boom at the 
town o£ Hilo — Hawaii — enables speculators to get 
§50, §t50, and even §100 per acre for the same land, 
while about S30toS40per acre mnst be reckoned on 
additio ially for clearing off the dense jung'e and 
forest. 
Careful figuring reckons the cost of caring for & 
coffee plantation at from §150 to §200 per acre iEor five 
years. There is a comparatively small quantity of 
Ltnd for outright sale — nearly all the desirable land 
on all the islands is owned or held under long leases, 
si me of them so long as thirty years, which is the 
limit of life of the coffee tree under cultivation. 
On Maui, Kauai, and some little on Oahu, coffee 
has been planted, and prospects reported " flattering," 
but only on Hawaii have there as yet been results 
tangible enough for some estimate of profits. For- 
tunately, on none of the islands has any species of 
blight made its appearance. Taking a fair average 
of sufcess at this stage of the industry, a conserva- 
tive estimate on the commencement of the fifth year 
places the profit at 15 to 20 per cent on the original 
investment. The Waianai plant (Oahu) paid for it- 
self in six years, and last year produced sixteen 
tans of coffee besides. 
Parlhermore, coffee planters purpose setting out 
bananas on their coffee fields, thus making the soil 
do double service without injury to either crop, and 
yield double profit to the grower. Half a ton of 
coffee and 300 branches of bananas per acre, as 
confidently expected from good average soil, are not 
a bad return by any means. The coffee boom is 
on the island of Hawaii, and so fast as the Go- 
veroment opens new roads into the coffee belts and 
plots public land for settlement, just so fast is it 
being taken up. — American Grocer, July 12. 
The Mobawak Korale Tea-pest.— The 
tea-pest on Silvakanda Estate, Morawak 
Korale, has, we are glad to learn from Messrs. 
Boustead Bros., been at length cleared, but 
25 acres have suffered and, through the 
severity of the treatment meted out to 
them with the pruning-knife, been thrown 
back for several months. It is hoped that 
it has been entirely got rid of, but there is 
no certainty as to the whereabouts of the 
larvae of the pest. No doubt a strict watch 
will l>e kept not only in the Morawak 
Korale, but in several other planting dis- 
tricts, where rumours of pests and gray 
blight (the latter most especially) are in the 
troubled air. We trust that the present 
mining craze will not lead to the neglect of 
tea plantations for pursuits less safe, and to 
the consequent spread of the enemies of tea 
through iusufficient vigilance at the outset 
