May 1, 1900.1 THE TROHOAL 
A(^RICULTURIST. 
771 
THE FANAWAL TEA COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
The foUowinf; is froui the report of the direc- 
tors to he preseiue.l to the sh;ueholder.-< at the 
eighth animal ordinnry ge'ieral meeting, to be 
held on Tuesday, the27tiiinst : — 
The directors beg to submit the general balance 
sheet and protit aud loss aocoiiac for the year ending 
December 31, 1899, duly audited. The nei amount 
at credit of profit and loss account, including balance 
brought forward at December 31, 1898, after providing 
for general expenses, directors and auditors' fees 
£ 3,210 65 8d : dividends on the seven per 
cent cumulative preference shares wpre paid for 189!> 
in full, amounting to ii371; an intprirn dividend of 2 
per cent on the ordinary shares was paid on Sept. 
15, 1899, amounting to £3-10, it is proposed to pay a 
final dividend of eight per cent on the ordinary shares 
fer the year ending December 31, 1899, making a 
distribution for the year of 10 per cent free of income 
tax, which will absorb £l,3lj0, to increase the reserva 
funds to a total of £1,000 by the addition of a sum of 
£508 143 6d, to write do vn the estates purchased 
account by the sum £187 10s 5d and to write the cost 
of coolie advances down by £VAS 63 8d leaving a 
balance to bs carried forward to next season of £9 
15s Id. The directors recommend the distribution 
of a final dividend at the rate of eight per cent on the 
ordinary shares of the company for the year ending 
Dec. 31, 1899, making with the interim dividend paid to 
Jane 30, a distribution at the rate of 10 per cent for 
the year. No alteration has taken place during the 
last twelve mouths in the acreage of the company's 
properties, which stands at : tea in fall bearing on 
December 31 last, 590 acres ; jungle, on Decem- 
ber 31st last 841 J acres. The directors consider 
that the shareholders have every reason to be satis- 
fied with the result of the year's working. The crop 
realised for 1899 was 334,922, as against an estimate 
of 315,000. The yield in 1898 was 293,933. The visit- 
ing agent reported the properties as being in every 
way in excellent order at the date of his lasi inspec- 
tion. — HandC Mail, IVIareh 10, 
CACAO SUPPLY AND CONSUMPriON 
"WANTED: MORE CACAO." 
Such is the heading put to a review of 
the cacao market by Mr, H. Haiiiel Smith, 
whose weekly I'eports must of late have 
attracted the attention of our cacao planters, 
AVe give prominence to the remarks and 
statistics furnished to show that the demand 
for cacao exceeds the supply : — 
"The striking proofs which meet the eye on 
every side, of the steadily increasing popul- 
arity of cocoa and chocolate, either as a 
beverage, a liighly nourishing food, or a 
sweetmeat, ought to encourage everyone in- 
terested in tlie planting of the raw article 
to push on and increase the area under 
cultivation as much as possible in order to 
avoid any chance of the demand exceeding 
the supply ; for should it do so the result 
would be serious to producers and manufac- 
turers alike, as it would force the price 
above the "margin of profit " limit, causing 
the makers to have to choose between losing 
money on their outptit, which they will not 
do, even if the scarcity was only tempor- 
ary ; or the very undesirable alternative of 
raising their list prices, which would not 
only check the consumption immediately, 
but would disorganise the trade for a very 
long time, as it is most difftcult to get the 
public to agree to pay a rise in the price of 
an article which they have been in the habit 
of baying at a fixed price ever since its 
iniroduction ; they do not quarrel if the 
96 
price is reduced by a cutting shopkeeper, 
but, rather than agree to a rise, the general 
public do without the article, and the ground 
gamed after years of fighting our way into 
public favour, by means of expensive adver- 
tisements and costly machinery would be 
speedily lost. And yet, unless more ener- 
getic steps are taken to increase the supply 
than is now being done one can see by the 
figures given below, unmistakable signs of 
the demand outgrowing the supply in a few 
years. 
"The continental manufacturers, we are told 
are realising the true state of affairs much 
quicker than theu- English confreres, whose 
one dread seems centred iu the fear that the 
spot price may go higher than tliey wish. 
As the increase both in the deliveries and 
consumption has been maintained, the three 
years given below will l)e sufficient guide to 
go by, and so prevent the reader being 
bothered with unnecessarv figures : 
The increase in the supply is 
1894, ' 1898. 1899. 
lb- Ih. ' fb. 
Guayaquil 88,9.51,000 42,172,000 ."0 41 ! 800 
Trinidad 20,961,200 24,.568,700 'kKO.s'oiio 
Ceylon 2,156,000 4,319,700 4,786,880 
Grenada 9,46,3,200 9,062,500 8,915,200 
St. Thome 
(African) 12,865,700 10,.-564,600 .30,455,040 
84,.397,100 98,687,500 119,409,920 
• ^lo'nn'^'^^ .i?." increase in 1898 of 17 per cent, and 
in 1899 ot 39 per cent, over 1894. 
Tlie increase in the consumption is as follows :— 
1894. 1898. 1899. 
lb. lb. 
United King- 
dom 22,441,000 .32,087,084 .34,013 812 
Germany 17,227,106 32..351,100 37,2.35,300 
Holland 19,896,300 29,086,900 28,923 000 
France 30,112,300 35,145,900 35,383.400 
Spain 1,166,800 9..392,30U 12,467,500 
Italy 471,700 690,400 778,200 
U. S. A. 15,940,500 21,095,700 35,260,000 
107.255,700 160,049,384 184,081,812 
Showing an increase in 1898 of .50 per cent, 
and in 1899 of 04 per cent, over 1894. 
Although it is true the above are neither 
all the producing nor consuming countries, 
they are by far the most important ones, 
and can be taken as a sound Ijasis on which 
to form calculations, and to show that even 
if the consumption does not increase during 
the next live or six years, it would take ail 
that time for the supply to come up to the 
same proportion of increase. But the con- 
sumption is not going to stop growing ; for 
instance, Russia, although I believe, its con- 
sumption is increasing rapidly is almost a 
non-cocoa country, but when she takes to 
cocoa for her army as England and Ger- 
many are doing, and which Russia with its 
cold climate will do also before long, that 
alone will increase the consumption some 
millions of pounds ; but i>utting the world's 
increase on a moderate basis, say 10 per cent 
per annum, during the next six vears ; if the 
present supply and demand of the whole 
world is two-hundred-and-flfty millicm 
pounds per annum (there is no doubt they 
are almost ec^ual now, and as the seven 
countries mentioned account for 184 millions, 
and we have Russia, Austria, Portugal, 
Belgium, and the rest of Europe, as well as 
