J^ov. 1, 1899.] THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
THE CONSOLIDATED ESTATES COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
Our absent Editor writes :— I send you the 
Report of the Consolidated Estates Co., Ltd. 
(Messrs. Arbuthnot, Latham & Co., General 
Managers). It is, I think, a fairly satisfactory 
document : as one " City " man said to me the 
other day, "the time for eight per c^t. -dividends 
all round is past in Ceylon and a good thing, too, 
as preventing over-production." I will try and 
look in at the meeting of the 11th, and hear what 
is said : — 
Authorised Capital £100,000, divided into 5,000 
Preferred Shares of £10 each entitled to a Cumu- 
lative Preferential Dividend of 8 per cent 
£50,000, 5,000 Ordinary Shares of £10 each £50,000 
Total £100,000. 
Eighth annual Report of the General Mana- 
gers, to be submitted to the Shareholders at the 
Getreral Meeting, to be held at 34, Great St. 
Helens, E C, on ' Wednesday, the 11th October, 
1899, at 11-30 a. ni. 
The General Managers have the pleasure to 
submit their Eight Annual Report and Balance 
Sheet, together with Statement of Acc^ounts for 
the Crop Year ending 30th June, 1899. 
The profit and loss account shows a balance (in- 
cluding £70 4s brought forward from last year) 
of £6,617 6s 6d after paying interest on the de- 
bentures, and a interim dividend of 4 per cent, 
on the preferred shares. Out of this sum the 
general managers propose to replace the £250 
taken from reserve last year, leaving a balance 
of £5,367 6s 6d, and to appropriate this amount as 
follows, viz : To pay a balance dividend of 4 
per cent, on the preferred shares, making 8 
per cent, for the whole year, which will ab- 
sorb £1,480 ; to pay a dividend of 5 per cent, 
on the ordinary shares, requiring £l,9o0 ; * 
to set aside for redemption of 5 per cent, 
of the debentures at 103, £2,266 ; carry- 
ing forward the balance, viz., £671 6s 6d. 
The following shows the result of the year's 
working, viz: Net proceeds of crop— 1,368,986 lb 
tea at an average net price of about Q^A per lb 
realised £37,242 2s Id ; cocoa, cardamoms and cin- 
chona bark, £1,167 ISs 6d ; surplus on estimated 
value of produce on hand 1897-98, £86 2s 7d ; in- 
terest on account, £138 12s lid. Expenditure on 
estates— Messrs. George Steuart and Co.'s drafts 
— R390,315 at an average of Is 4 ll-32d per 
rupee, £26,584 lis 3d ; balance of coast advances, 
£237 lis lid ; bonus to superintendents — R7,500 
at Is 4 3-16d, £505 17s 2d. The weather during 
the past season, though somewhat better than 
that ot the preceding year, has not been very 
favourable for producing leaf ; and consequently 
the crop shows a slight short fall as compared 
with the estimates instead of an increase as 
was hoped when the last annual report was 
issued. Prices of tea have fluctuated considerably. 
At one time they showed a material rise, but 
aterwards fell away and touched the lowest on 
record, though they have since somewhat recovered 
with the result on the whole that the tea has 
realised a net average ot GJd per lb. against 6Jd 
per lb. last year. The following figures giving 
tha actual results of crop and expenditure as 
compared with the estimates in the last annual 
report will be interesting to the shareholders and 
• By the artiolea of Association It is provided that 
five per cent of the debentures must be redeemed 
before any Dividend can be paid on the Ordinary 
Bbares, 
will serve to show with what accuracy the estimates 
are prepared under the careful supervision of the 
company's Ceylon agents, Messrs. George Steuart 
& Co., viz.: Crop expenditure — estimate R395,659; 
actual result, R393,S03. Crop of tea— estimate 
1,392,500 ; actual result, 1,368,986 lb. Capital ex- 
l^enditure — estimate £5,000 (about) ; actual result, 
£5,112 lis 2d. The estimates for the new season 
have again been prepared with caution, and are 
as follows: Wattegoc'de— expenditure, RlOl, 690 ; 
crop, 340,000 lb. tea. Hoonoocotua — expenditure, 
R7I,714 ; crop, 240,000 lb. tea. Ellagalla— ex- 
penditure, R28,441 ; crop, 92,000 lb. tea. Talla- 
galla— expenditure, R56,748 ; crop, 230,000 lb. 
tea, Warriagalla — expenditure, R56,521 ; crop, 
180,000 tea. Rutland— expenditure, R49,288 ; 
crop, 167,000 tea. Sorana— expenditure, R49,374 ; 
crop, 177,000 lb. tea, Totals — expenditure, 
E513,776 at Is 4id equals £28,016 Is 8d ; crop, 
1,426,000 lb. tea. Also 9,000 lb. cardamoms and 20 
cwt. cocoa from Warriagalla and 20,0001b. cin- 
chona from Rutland. Exchange during the past 
season has been rather more unfavourable than 
lor the previous year, the cost of the rupee 
having been Is 4 ll-32nd (for three months' 
bills) against Is 4 l-16d in 1897-8, It is no doubt 
within the knowledge of shareholders that the 
Indian Government have adopted the recom- 
mendation of the Currency Committee and 
have made gold a legal tender at the ex- 
change of Is 4d per rupee, so they will no 
doubt do everything in their power to maintain 
this rate. No new properties have been acquired 
since the date of our last annual report, but 49 
acres adjoining Sorana and eight acres adjoining 
Tallagalla have been added to those estates. The 
cost of the 49 acres of Sorana was provided out of 
the original purchase money of the estate, and the 
little plot of eight acres adjoining Tallagalla was 
paid for out of the factory and extension account. 
The usual acreage statement of the Company's 
Estates is appended, viz :— 
The usual Acreage Statement of the Company's 
Estates is appended, viz : — 
is 
Wattegodde 
Hoonoocotua 
Tallagalla 
Ellagalla 
Rutland 
Warriagalla 
Sorona 
as 
ei 
^•6 
a 
OJ 
e 
|.| 
c 
"3 
artial 
Beari 
ecentl 
Elanti 
o 
Dimbula 
- 800 
Nil 
25 
Kotmale 
. 660 
25 
15 
Kalutara 
■ 397 
118 
70 
Ma tale 
- 217 
6 
8 
Hewaheta 
. 419 
30 
70 
Hilambe 
■ 406 
85 
83 
Kalutara 
- 263 
32 
205 
Totals 
• 3,062 
296 
476 
09 
o 
oj" . 
O 
So 
i!- 
u 
< . 
9) 
60 
Ceylo 
tri 
t« 
«M 
o 
O 
Dimbula 
Nil 
70 
895 
Kotmale 
45 
117 
762 
Kalutara 
S?, 
23 
700 
Matale 
13 
201 
445 
Hewaheta • 
85 
59 
063 
Nilambe 
63 
624* 
1,261 
Kalatura 
178 
94 
770 
Totals . 
i7i 
1,188 
5,496 
as 
Wattegodde 
Hoonoocotua 
T.allagalla 
Ellagilla 
Rutland 
Warriagalla 
Sorana 
During the current season it is proposed to plant 
up 174 acres with tea, viz., 52 acres on Tallagalla, 
* of which 192 acres are planted with Cardamoms and 
Cocoa, 
