Jan. 1, 1900.] 
THE TKOPICAI. AGRICULTURIST. 
459 
DIGALLA CEYLON TEA ESTATE CO., LD 
The following is the report of the Directors to be 
sabmitted to the Third Annual Ordinary General 
Meeting of Shareholders, held at 20, Eastclieap 
E. C, on 5th Dec. :— 
" The Directors have the pleasure to snbtnit 
the General Balance Sheet and Profit and Losi 
Account for the year ending 30th June 1899, duly 
audited. 
The net amount at Credit of Profit f •. d. 
and Loss Account, after providing 
for General Expense?, Directors' Fees, 
Income Tax, &c., is .. 575 13 1 
Dividends on six per cent. Preference 
Shares were paid for 1898-99 (less In- 
come Tax) amounting to . . .. 348 0 0 
Leaving to carry forward to next year 
a balance of . . . . .. 227 13 1 
575 13 1 
The past seasons in Ceylon haa not been one 
favourable to the production of Tea. There was a long 
drought in the early part of the year and too much rain 
at other times, and consequently the Company's crop 
was some 50,000 lb short of the estimate ; owing to this, 
and to the fact that a considerable proportion of the 
np-keep ou the 143 acres not in bearing has been 
charged to re-venue, the Directors regret they are not 
in a position to pay a dividend on the Ordinary 
Shares. 
The acreage of the Company's property ia aa 
follows : — 
Tea in Bearing. . .. 456 acres 
Tea not in Bearing .. .. 143 ,, 
Jungle.. .. .. .. 152 „ 
Total .. 751 acres 
The gross average price realized was 6.84d per lb , 
as against 6.17d perlb. last season, and the rate of 
exchange Is 4id, against Is 3 27-32d. 
The total crop amounted to 192.697 lb. plucked 
ofi 456 acres, of which 134 acres are in partial bear- 
ing, giving an average of 423 lb per acre. 
; Under clause No. 24 of the Articles of Association 
Mr. H K Rutherford retires on this occasion from the 
Board, and being eligible, offers himself for re- 
election. 
The Auditor, Messrs. Harper Brothers, Chartered 
Accountants also retire from office and offer them- 
selves for re-election. 
TEA BULKING IN CHINA. 
A gentleman for some years in the China tea 
trade, has favoured us with the following descrip- 
tion of a method tor bulking tea, which he says 
is most simple and inexpensive. Four square 
wooden posts grooved on two of the adjoining 
sides, and several planks of (say) 18 inches in 
breadth are all that is required. These should be 
made into a large box, the post.« forming the corn- 
ers and the planks the sides. The box should be 
built, raised some four feet from the grouii'^, the 
bottom being made of wood having a sliding trap- 
door in the centre, so made that the outlet can be 
enlarged or reduced according to the size of the 
leaf to be bulked. When the box is being filled 
with tea the trap door remains closed. The tea to 
be bulked should be spread oat in layers as thin 
as possible inside the box, one quality on top of 
another, until all the tea required to be bulked 
is inside the box. Now open the tiap-door, and 
the tea will r\in out from the top, taking a little 
from each layer in its down wani cour.se, the result 
being a perfect bulk. The bottom of the box 
should be made slightly on aslope from the side.i 
to the centre near the ai)erture, so that the tea 
may get away equally. By me.ms of a zinc tuVe 
the current of tlieleaf cm be carried direct from the 
box into a package or chest, standing on a lever 
scale. A sand-glass will illustrate the above on a 
small scale. Tea is bulked in China on the same 
principle as the above, but there, one side of the 
box is drawn away, and the packages filled from 
the oca that collects at the foot of trie pile. — 
Planter, Dec. 9. 
THE NILGIRI GAME ASSOCIATION. 
OOTACAMUND, 11th Dec, — At the annual Meet- 
ing of the Association held on Saturday last in 
the Collector's Office, the following gentlemen 
were present: — Mr. CJ Weir (President), Mr. C G 
Douglas (Honorary Secretary), the Hon'ble Mr. 
H P Hodgson, Mr. W L Edmistou, Mr. G Hadfield, 
Mr. E Hadfield, Mr. J E David. Mr. T J Kenna, 
Mr. J H Pascoe and Major T N Bagnall; 
Tiie Honorary Secretary presented the Heport 
for the year ending 30th June, from which the 
following are interesting extracts : — 
Increase of Game and Results of Protection.— 
On the whole we may consider ourselves tolerably 
successful in maintaining a fair head of game in 
moat parts of the District, though the results of 
protection may not have made themselves everywhere 
apparent by increased numbers. 
Prosecutions.— The year's return of offences de- 
tected and punished under the Forest Act is the 
best on record since the Association began. This 
satisfactory result may be attributed to (1) a more 
liberal use of rewards ; (2) better paid watchmen ; 
(3J the great personal interest taken in preservation 
by some of our leading members. This last is simply 
invaluable. ; 
The Nilqibi Game Bay. — In a former Report yon 
were informed that two valuable registers were opened 
in the District Forest Office. One a game register 
and the other a register of shikaris well known to, 
and recommanded by local sportsmen of experience. 
It is greatly to be regretted that neither has proved 
a success. 
Trout. -Your Committee ia as sanguine aa ever 
regarding the ultimate success of this enterprise. In 
Mdjor Grant, who has left the District, and whose 
services in trout culture have been annually record- 
ed with due appreciation, the Association has lost 
an entbuoiaatic fisherman. The following are his 
notes for the season. He has only been a few months 
in office. I regret to say that the whole of the 
Salmo Inidens ova received this year was worthless. 
It had evidently been so for a long time, as in some 
cases it had altogeter rotted away and only the Smell 
remained. It was clearly the fault of the people on 
board ship and I attribute no blame to those who 
conveyed it from Madras to Ootacamund. — Madrat 
Mail, Dec. 13. 
Tea Drinking in America; —In a letter 
(dated Oct. 21st) kindly forwarded to us 
by an American visitor, from Mr. Oscar 
Joseph (a nephew of Mr. F. C. Xioos) who 
proceeded to America with a view to train- 
ing for the Ministry, we have the following 
criticism from the writer, who is now at New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, on the quantity of 
tea now being drunk in the Eastern States: — 
"I have not yet tasted a good cup of tea in 
America. In the restaurants of New York, 
and even in private houses, where every- 
thing else is of the best, the tea is worse 
than what you get in any of the boutiques 
on the way to Anuradhapixra. I have seen 
advertisements of Nettley's Ceylon and In- 
dian tea. They evidently mix the teas here, 
and, of course, the real flavour of our superior 
tea is altogether lost. The Planters' Associ- 
ation should Avake up if they desire to save 
the reputation of Ceylon tea in Anierica," 
