July 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL 
Read letter from the Anglo Colonial Import Asso- 
ciation Budapest, intimating that the samples of 
Ceylon Tea for free distribution liad arrived, and 
claiming payment of freight aiul duty which they 
state amounts to about £10J sterling. Resolved :— 
"That the attention of Messrs. Cooper, Cooper & Co. 
Ltd., Lonilou, who made the application on behalf 
of the Anglo Colonial Import Association, Budapest, 
Hungary, 'oo drawn to the allegations made by 
Mr. R. V. Webster, which ap])eared in the Ceylon 
newspapers antl that they be leipiested to give 
a detailed explanation to the Committee regarding 
the advertisement referred to." 
Read letter from Messrs. Coojier, Cooper & Co. 
Ltd., advising that they would draw for £2i)0 
sterling tor Belgiunr and £40 sterling for Sweden 
by next nia,il. 
CF.VLON TKA IN CA\AnA. 
Resolved :— " That asam of £.300 sterling be de- 
voted to push Ceylon tea amongst the <jreen tea 
drinkers in Canada, ami tliat tlie grant be handed to 
Mr. Wm. MaclCenzie, to apportion as he considers 
best ; (2) that the sanction of the Governor in 
Executive Council be obtained to this appro- 
priation." 
UNIVERS.A-L INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TO BE 
HELD IN PARI3, IN THE YEAR 1900. 
Read letter from Government intimating that 
no official information has yet been received 
in regard to the Paris Exhibition, but tliat it is 
observed from the newsjiapers that a Royal Com- 
mission has been issued instructions will doubtless 
soon follow. Until the Regalatioiis which are 
said to be on a new principle are issued, it cannot 
be stated what space the Ceylon is likely to 
require. 
INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION, CALCUTTA. 
Read letter from the Indian Tea Association, 
Calcutta, asking tor information regarding 
the levy, the proceeds of winch are devoted in 
Ceylon to the exploitation of foreign markets 
as the Indian Tea Association's attention is now 
, being prominently directe'.i to the best means of 
raising a permanent annual fund to aid in the 
expansion of the trade in British-grown tea. 
Intimated that the desired information had been 
supplied. 
RECEIPT ON ACCOUNT OF TEA FUND. 
Submitted letter from tlie Treasurer of the 
Colony, No. 766, on the subject of a receipt fur- 
nished Resolved : — " That the request made be 
complied with." 
TEA SALES IN COLOMBO. 
Read letter from the Secretary, Ceylon Associa- 
tion in London enclosing copy of a letter received 
from Mr. A. Lampard in regard to tea sales in 
Colombo. Resolved : — " That tlie matter be 
placed on the aggenda for next meeting." 
The Tliirty Committee tlien adjourned. 
A PHILIP, 
Secretary to the Thirty Committee. 
Trout Culttjrh in Ceylon.— We direct at- 
tention to the extremely satisfactory account of 
his stewarils'.iip which Mr. Burrows furnishes in 
our correspondence column as Hon. Seretary of 
the Ceylon Fishing Club. Tliat 1],7SS trout fry 
should have been succe-sfuUy distributed among 
so great; a variety of our upland streams must 
be cause of gratification to ail who take an 
interest in trout acclimatisation, apart from the 
enthusiastic anglers in our midst. 
AGRICULTURIST, U 
"FOUR IMPORTANT CEYLON TEA 
COMPANIES." 
[Mr. Wilson's " Investors' Review," strange to 
say, has been comijaring the same four Companies 
we dealt with the other day.— Ed. T.A.] 
Ceylon tea companies, as a rule, are small, but 
in the past week four of the large ones issued 
their r(qioris. Each company complains of a lower 
pi'ice obtiiined for its tea, and naturally the higher 
excliange and enhanced cost of rice, through the 
Indian fnjnino, adveisely aft'ectcil profits. It 
might be well to exjilain that the cost of rice, 
affects the co:i!].)anies from the f:icfc that tliey are 
b;.iund to sujijily tl;f-:r </ . )!ies at a flxe;l |)ric8, 
and in times of high prices the cf)mpHnies liave 
to pay a good deal more foi- the grain tlian tiie 
amount re/oived hack fiom the •■oolies. The ex- 
chang;;' for the jQiw 1S!!7 .'ueinged jn.st about 
jipr riipie higher than iu L'ifij, ^^■!^i^h meant an 
iticrease-.l woiking ciiarge of about r]d. per Ih., 
wiiilo the higher price of rice represented nearly 
another id. per lb. >So the companies had their 
charges increased by hd. per lb., in addition to 
wdiicli a lower price was obtained for their tea. 
The increa.se in acreage, too, was very moderate, 
as the following table sets forth : — 
Ceylon Mature area. Crop. Price per lb, 
Tea 1S96. 1897. 1896. 1897. 1896. 1897, 
Planta- acres, acres, lb. lb. d d 
tions 7,998 8,067 3,763,167 4,000,516 8§ 7| 
Eastern 
Prod. & 
Estates 9,490 9,.565 .3,713,000 3,635,000 7i 71-16th 
Nuwara 
Eliya 1,734* 2,302* 565.693 699,223 9i 9i 
Standard 1,519 1,680: 602,778 749,680 9|- 9^ 
* P9,rt of this worked for only some months in year. 
The Eastern Produce Company actually obtained 
a smpJlor crop, but the Nuwara Eliya had an output 
exceeding the estimates. In its case, however, the 
increase is in a great measure due to the fact that 
it is a new company, and in 1S3G it evidently did 
not gather tlio full crop uiion its acreage. The 
Standard Company included another estate it liad 
purchased, bat even then the yiehl per acre is higlrer 
while the Ceylon Tea Plautatious Irad merely an 
ordinary increp-se. Under these circumstances the 
profits of the companies working under normal con- 
ditions were bound to be lower, and the following 
table gives the amount and the manner in which it 
was divided: — 
Put to 
Net Profits. Reserve, &c. Dividend. 
1896 1897. 1896. 1897. 1896 1897. 
Per Per 
Ceylon Tea £ £ i £ cent cent 
Plantation 48,896 43,713 18,392 11,600 15 l,"; 
Eastern Pro- 
duce and 
Estates 48,212 40.890 23,219 14,963 63r 7 
Nuwara Eliya 9,910 13,584 953 1,023 6 6 
Standard 10,991 10,920 2,500 2,0U0 15 15 
The increased profit of the Nuwara Eliya was mostly 
due to its working tlie greater part of its estates for 
the v/hole year, but it must have done relatively better 
than the other three companies. Yet the margin 
S3t aside for reserve before paying the dividend 
compares badly with them, The fact that tiie older 
concerns have been so prudent in the past mainly 
acooants for their good exhibit at the present 
time. lo sriio of the dsoliue iu pvofit, the Eastern 
P):oduce is ' ! jy a higher dividend (this, how- 
ever, only . £1,500), and sots aside nearly 
40 per ceiit. ot iis jiroiits to reserve aud deprecia'iou, 
and the two othi.-rs pay the same d videed, the Stan- 
dard setting aside nearly 20 per cent., and the Ceylon 
Tea Plantations 25 per cent of their piofits 
to reserves. Beside these statements, the 
