August 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST. 
109 
gether to about £35,000 ; some £10,000 of this was on 
extensions, £20,000 on machinery, buildings, &c., and 
£5,000 on the railway. They had opened up during 
the year some 877 acres of young coffee. This was a 
much larger area than they had contemplated, and, in- 
deed, under present circumstances they would far rather 
have postponed making any extension, but in this matter 
they were a little tied upon labour questions, and no 
doubt that these extensions would come in very use- 
fully in the course of time. In the meantime, so far 
as labour would peimit, they h d given instructions 
that extension should be rigorously cur ailed. As to 
the capital expenditure during the coming year, the 
estimate sent to them was that it would possibly 
amount to some £12,000, of which £7,000 had been 
already incurred. "With regard to the management, 
they had every cause to be satisfied with the work 
done, and he was very glad to say they had b.'en able to 
secure the services as second in command, of Mr. Ham- 
mond, who had had considerable experience in Brazil 
not only in coffee growing, but in bnsiness matters gen- 
erally. As to labour they had a good and full force on 
the estates, and had added to it considerably. The dir- 
ectors felt that the great hope of the company was to 
be able to produce a quality of coffee superior to that 
generally known as Santos coffee, and all the exports 
they had consulted had been fully satisfied that all that 
was necessary was certain mechanical alterations in 
the treatmejit of the coffee. The general character 
of Brazilian coffee was poor, and the great fall 
from which they were now suffering was caused 
by the fact that there had been a very great over- 
supply of this particular class of coffee. Other grades 
— medium, fine, and good qualities — had not fallen in 
the extraordinary manner in which Brazilian coffee had, 
and therefore the aim of the directors was to keep 
Dnmont coffee out of the rut of the Brazilian, so that 
it might be of a superior grade, equal, as they felt it 
should be, to any Central American high-class coffee. 
Daring the past year they had been making every pre- 
paration they could for the treatment of the 1898 crop, 
and in that respect they bad been very fortunate in 
securing the services of Sir. Michie, of Ceylon, who was 
a very capable engineer, and was in every way the 
right man for this work. The point was — with 
all these improvements would they be able 
to earn a dividend for the ordinary share- 
holders, for they looked upon the debenture 
holders and preference holders as perfectly safe. The 
di;e3tor3 stated in their report that they hoped that 
the improvements they were making would even this 
year enable them to earn a dividend; but of course it 
depended not only upon the improvement in quality, 
but also upon their getting a fair quantity. Since the 
report, however, they had received telegrams from 
their managing director in which he icformed them 
that the coffee crop would be very short of the estimate, 
though the quality was considered to be good. This, of 
course, rather altered the position from that exi-ting 
at the time the directors issued their report, and he 
was not inclined to confirm the hope held out there" 
in. It was early, of course, to judge, but he felt 
he must advise patience. In the calculations the 
directors had made they had never taken into con- 
sideration the possibility of a rise in the coffee 
market. Of course they could not predict what the 
state of the market would be, but if the Brazilian 
crop was going to be short to the extent of some 
20 per cent to 25 per cent, as they were advised, 
of the previous year's crop, it was clear there must 
be a very considerable rise in the market, and that 
would mean to them a very great deal. Owing to 
the low prices ruling in the past year, the con- 
sumption was very materially affected, and he was 
told by authorities who should know that during the 
current year the deliveries up to date had been at 
the rate of an increase of 4,000,000 bags per annum, 
and if that continued the market for coffee would 
undoubtedly very soon be in a far more healthy 
position than at the present time. He could only 
promise that the board would continue to do its 
best in the shareholders' interests. It might be 
satisfactory to them to know that the boaird held one< 
fourth of the orditiary capital of the ordinary, and, 
personally, not only was he a bujer of company shares 
last year, but since then he had trebled his holding. 
That would show that he had full confidence in the 
goodness of his investment. 
Mr. H. K. Rutherford seconded the motion. 
Mr. Stratten Bnlnois said he visited the com- 
pany's estates because he arrd his friends were 
largely interested in them. He was very pleased 
with all that bad been and was being done by the 
staff, and by Mr. JNIichie. Improved methods were 
being adopted in the gathering of the crop, and the 
coffee trees themselves seemed to be in a peifeotly 
healthy state. 
The resolution was carried unanimously. 
Mr. Rutherford moved the re-election of iVIr. Bucha- 
nan as director, which was seconded by Mr. G. 
A. Talbot, and carried unanimously. 
Mr. C. A Carlisle was also unanimously re-elected 
a director, on the motion of the Hon. H. A.Lawrence, 
seconded by Major F. B. McCrea, 
Messrs. Jackson, Pixley & Co. were reappointed 
auditors , and the proceedings closed with a vote of 
thanks to the chairman and directors.— i/. and C. Jlail, 
June 17th. 
CEARA RUBBER. 
" Kew Bulletin " for January-February, lately 
receiveil, gives the first place to a lesunie of tiie 
experiments made in various Countries with 
Ceara Rubber and winds up with tiie followinn' 
Summary :— " 
The result of experience so far gained in the experi- 
mental cultivation of the Ceara rubber plant may be 
summarised as follows : — 
1— The plant is readily propagated both from seeds 
and cuttings. Seeds are abundantly produced in al- 
most every part of the world where the plant has 
been introduced. They may be gathered from plants 
when only three to five years old. There is therefore 
the great advantage that a large area could be planted 
withm a comparatively short period. Sowing the 
seeds in the position where they are to grow perma- 
nently is universally adopted in Brazil. It is po'-si- 
ble, if adopted elsewhere, tliis plan w-ould greatly 
reduce the cost of establishing plantations. 
2— The Ceara rubber plant is very hardy,' a fast 
grower, free from insect and fungoid attacks, 'requires 
little or no attention when once established and thrives 
in poor, dry and rocky soils unsuited to almost any 
other crop. It is evident, however, that the yield of 
a few trees cannot be remunerative and only larcre 
areas can hope to make the industrv a payint^ one. " 
3— It produces a good class of riibber,"sec°ond only 
when well prepared to the best Para rubber. For this 
there i« a steady and continuous demand The yield 
per tree is apparently small, but a return is obtained 
earlier than from any other rubber plant With 
thick planting and judicious thinning as the trees 
grow up, It may be possible to increasa the yield 
hitherto recorded ; while with skilful treatment the 
permanent trees may be tapped twice yearly and last 
in a productive state for 15 to 20 years. 
4— In spite therefore of the apparent want of suc- 
cess which so far has attended experiments with 
Ceara rubber plants in Ceylon and other countries 
the increasing importance of rubber as an article iri 
large demand in all civilized countries at good prices 
suggests a reconsideration of the merits of this interest- 
ias. plant. In many of our colonies possessing a dry 
climate and a poor stony soil, it is possible that large 
areas could be profitably occupied with Ceara rubber 
trees so grown as to provide annual crops for tappir " 
We feel very strongly that more migiit he done 
in Ceyl on with Ceara Rubber, and that cultivation 
was not persevered with, ten years ago, because 
of the " boonr ' in tea. But now in dry districts 
not suitable for Rara, the Ceara kind ini-dit well 
be planted. ° 
