June 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL 
AG nCULTUEIST. 
805 
PERAK SUGAR CULTIVATION CO., LD. 
(From the address of the Chairman, Mr. W. V. 
Dkummond, March 14th.) 
A new concession of 6,600 acres was in 1894 offered 
to this company and the directors agreed to take 
it over for the sum of §1,000. The land was reported 
as being excellent for .'iigar cultivation. It arljoined 
the company's estate and was situated on the banks 
of the Gula-Kalumpong Canal, the rights over which 
the directors were anxious to acquire as being a 
means of supplying the estate with fresh water from 
the Kut-au river. The acquisition of the property 
also secured the company against the formation of 
a rival estate situated on its borders, which might 
sariously complicate the estate labour question. Be- 
tween 1894 and the present time a sum of slightly 
over Tls. 12,000 has been spent in quit rents, suri'ey 
fees, clearing jungle and opening up the laud, and 
against this outlay we have received. Tls. 7,300 
($10,000) for about one-third of the property — an out- 
lying block on which nothing had been spent and 
which the company would not have been able to 
utilise for several years, if at all. As yon will see 
from the accounts the sum of Tls. 4,828 89 now 
stands aa an asset in 
THE BALANCE SHEET 
representing a property of 3,500 acres, of which about 
800 acres have been cleared of jungle, 28 acres have 
been planted with canes, 21,000 fset of drainage, naviga- 
tion and boundary canals, and over 10.000 feet of 
drains have been dug. A small bungalow for a foreign 
overseer, and buildings sufficient for the accommoda- 
tion of 250 coolies liave been erected. 
With regard to th;s development of this property, 
you will remember that the company is under cer- 
tain obligations to the Perak Government. A bona 
fide commencement to cultivate had to be made 
within twelve months from the date of the lease 
(30th June 1896). This condition has been complied 
with — further, at least one-fourth of the whole area 
must be in cultivation at the end of ten years, that 
is by SOth June 1906: otherwise the whole of the 
uncultivated portion of the land will lapse to the 
Perak Government. The directors have had before 
them for some time a scheme for the cultivation of 
sugar cane on this property for the manufacture of 
basket sugar. Basket sugar, or as it is sometimes 
called Muscovado, is a coarse kind of sugar which 
is used largely by the natives in the East and is 
also exported to Europe, where it is sold to refiners 
and brewers. It has been 
CULTIVATED IN THE MALAY TENINSULA 
for the last fifty years with success, 
but the cultivation has hitherto been in the 
hands of natives. There is a large local market for it 
and considerable quantities are shipped to England. 
The market fcr it is, vva learn, practically unlimited. 
The adoption of a scheme for such cultivation in- 
volved the raising of new capital, and the financial 
position of the company has hitherto hardly warranted 
the directors in placing it before the shareholders. 
The financial position of the company has now how- 
ever, undergone a considerable change for the better ; 
the profits of last season paid a handsome dividend, 
besides placing a substantial sum to reserve, and 
the prospects for the current season are fully as 
good as, if not better than the last. At the same time 
the directors feel that any extension of the company's 
operations must be provided for by new capital, one 
of the groat difficulties which tlie company has had 
to contend with in the past having been insufficient 
capital. This difficulty, in the earlier days of the 
company, necessitated the expenditure on capital 
account of a considerable amount of money out of the 
earnings of the company, and the borrowing of money 
at a high rate of interest. At the present time, 
however, the company is in possession of a fine 
property of nearly 2,500 acres in cultivation, and an 
up-to-date plant capable of earning good dividends 
on the capital. The manufacture of basket sugar 
possesses these advantages over tVie higher grade 
Bugars, in that it requirea much simpler and there- 
99 
fore much less expensive • plant, it fiuds a ready 
market, and the profits calculated on a moat con- 
servative estimate are considerable. IMoreover, with 
a comparatively 
SMALL OUTLAY OF CAPITAL 
the company is able to fulfil its obligations under its 
lease to the Perak government. The erection of a second 
factory will provide the means, in the event of a serious 
breakdown in the principal factory, of taking off the 
estate canes which might otherwise be lost through 
over-ripeness, or have to be sold at a great sacrifice 
to neighbouring estates. It is proposed to erect the 
factory in a central position as regards the whole 
property and to arrange it in such a way that at 
some future time, should it be deemed advisable, 
the vacuum pan and centrifugal process can be 
introduced without difficulty. It may interest you to 
know that other foreign companies working in the 
neighbourhood of our estate have also recently en- 
tered into arrangements for the manufacturing o( 
basket sugar, which has been hitherto confined to 
native planters. An article in a recent issue of the 
International Sugar Journal, the principal organ ol 
the sugar industry describes a plant, the first of 
several to be erected in the Straits for the maau- 
facture of this product. The names of the promoters 
who are also largely connected with our successful 
neigiibours in Province Wellesley, the Penang Sugar 
Estates Company are a sufficient guarantee of the 
soundness of the undertaking. The amount of capital 
wliich it is estimated is required to provide a factory 
and plant capable of crushing canes from 2.000 to 
2,500 acres, and to open up an area of about l',600 acres 
is roughly Tls. 75,000.— lY. C. Herald, March 21. 
— . ^ _ 
THE "CUNDALL" OIL ENGINES. 
Messrs. Brown & Davidson, of Talawakelle, 
have just brought out a new catalogue, with 
testimonials, of the patent oil engines, for 
which they are sole agents in Ceylon and 
Southern India. We must in the tirst place 
congratulate Messrs. Jordan of " the Lin- 
dula ])ress" for the very creditable work in 
turning out this catalogue with its gold 
lettering and border on brown and dark 
cloth cov-er— all extremely neat and effec- 
tive. We gather that the Talawa- 
kelle Engineering Firm is quietly effecting 
a notable work upcountry in superseding 
steam engines with the "Cundall" oil en- 
gine, and if it be true that the stiving (ia 
fuel &c.) is equal to one cent and upwards 
per lb. of made tea in many cases, we can 
readily see the great inducement, more es- 
pecially in districts where fuel is scarce. In 
the book before us we see such thoroughly 
practical managers as Messrs. A. Cantlay, 
W. H. Morrison, Bowie, Holland, Hudson, 
Peile, J. R. Jenkins, &c., all testifying to 
their great satisfaction with the new oil 
e,i,;;iies, there can be no doubt of success. 
Vv e understand that the demand is now so 
considerable that there is a steady flow of 
the engines for orders to the island. To 
ensure proper erection and a good start, an 
assistant thoroughly acquainted with the 
engines was got out from Messrs. Cundall 
<te Co., a circumstance Avhich adds to the 
confidence of all using this special m»tor. 
The Indian Poekst Department.— The num. 
bcr of olHcers recruited annually in England for the 
superior branch of the Indian Forest Service will 
be raised from six to nine for tiie next few years, 
to meet the heavy losses the Forest Department 
has been sustaining from iuvaliding.—ilfa(^r«s if fltY. 
