Sept. 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL 
CACAO ANALYSES AND MANURING. 
Tliere can be no question of the great value 
to tlie Cacao cultivator of the Report furnished 
to the Planters' Association by Mr. Cochran, on 
the suggestion of Mr. de Sanctis of the Kurune- 
gala district. The several analyses and the re- 
commendations as to manuring are very clearly 
put, so that the cacao planter shoald make ho 
mistake over the practical ad\ice offereil. Of 
course, properly speaking, each district, if not 
each estate, should have its own soil analyses ; 
but Mr. Cochran gives enough of information to 
shew in what directions manuring experiments 
can safely and profitably be made, even without 
further analyses, A special vote of thanks should 
be passed to Mr. Cochran for this Report. — See 
page 195 for full report. 
CRAIGHEAD TEA COMPANY, LIMITED. 
Registered .July 1, by Allen and Son, 17, Car- 
lisle-street, Soho-square, W. , with a capital of 
£50,000 in £10 shares (1,650 six per cent cumula- 
tive preference). Object to acquire, by purcliase 
or otherwise, certain lands, buildings, and other 
property in Ceylon or elsewhere or any interest 
therein, and in particular the Craighead and 
Cholankander Estates, Dolosbage District, Central 
Province of Ceylon, with a view to the above 
objects, to adopt and carry into effect an agree- 
ment expressed to be made between G Alston, 
E Hamilton, and E B Hay of the first part and 
this company of the other part, and generally to 
cany on in all or any of their respective branches 
the businesses of timber growers, timber merchants, 
tea, coffee, and cocoa merchants with the necessary 
plant, niachinery, apparatus which may be consi- 
dered necessary or useful for the said businesses, or 
any of them ; as coal and coke merchants, brick and 
tile manufacturers, carriers by land and sea of goods, 
passengers, live stock, munitions of war, &c. ; to 
acquire and turn to account any patents, patent 
riglits and inventions ; to acquire and turn to ac- 
count any real or personal property ; to establish 
and maintain telepiione and telegraph systems, &c. ; 
to acquire any mines, mining, water, and other 
rights, grants, leases, claims, concessions, options 
of purcliase, metalliferous land, alluvial ground, 
mineral deposits, &c.; and to carry on the business 
of a mining, smelting, and trarling company in all 
its branches ; and, further, to acquire any lands 
and estates, and to develop, deal with, and turn to 
account the same ; also to carry on the business of 
an electric light and power company in all its 
branches. The signatories are : — Shares. 
Q Alston, Nawalapitiya, Ceylon .. ..1 
J H Alston, 60, Watling-atreet, E.G. . . ... 1 
C M Robertson, 12, Fenchnrch-street, B.C. . . 1 
N D Alston, 147, Minories, E.G. .. ..1 
R O Smith, 73, Eaton-square, S.W. . . . . 1 
F G Hopkins, 21, Old-square, Lincoln'a-inn, W.C. 1 
B Bois, 12, Fenchurch-street, E.G. .. .,1 
The first directors— of whom there shall be not 
less than two nor more than five— are G Alston, R 
H VVallace, and C M Robertson. Qualification, 
£500. Remuneration, £250 per annum, divisible. 
Registered ollice : 12, Fenchurch-street, E.G. — Fi- 
nancial News, July 12. 
Wanted : Fibre to make up for MANiii.v 
Hemp. — There is a great want of hemp in England 
just now as "R.H.F." shows on the autiiority of 
Mr. T. Christy ; but, alas ! Ceylon is not ready 
to supply the deticiency, although the island in 
several districts is most favourable to the growth 
pf tibre plants. 
AGRICULTURIST. f^.r 
THE ANGLO-CEYLON AND GENERAL 
ESTATES COMPANY. 
The Report given on page 204 ajipeais 
to be a very satisfactory document so far as 
Ceylon is concerned, but specially unsatis- 
factory as regards Mauritius. It is the old experience 
of the Ceylon Company, Limited, over again. We 
suppose the reason that there is no dividend is en- 
tirely due to the losses in Mauritius ; for the Ceylon 
estates, under the general management of the Hon. 
J. N. Campbell, did better last year than in 
1896 in respect of crops both of tea and cacao, 
and tlie average prices in both cases were dis- 
tinctly better. It is very disheartening under 
these circumstances to find no margin for dividend. 
However, let us do Mauritius justice, apart from 
a less sugar crop for which it is responsible, 
there was the plague in Bombay ruining the 
best ma,rket for its sugars, which it could not 
help. There is hope, therefore, for better times, 
especially if the Currency Committee respect the 
producing interests, and honest silver, in India, 
Ceylon and Mauritius. In Ceylon the Company 
owns 12 tea estates and two cacao and coconut 
estates ; in Selangor one coffee estate with 490 
acres under coll'ee, and 711 reserve ; in Mauri- 
tius two fully owned sugar estates and four otliers 
in which the Company is interested. We con- 
fess we should like to see the Mauritius pro- 
perties haniled over to another Company to 
work, and that Ceylon interests stood on their 
0\vn basis. 
CEYLON ESTATES INVEST.MENT 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
The fourteenth general meeting of Ceylon 
Estates Investment Association, Limited, was 
lield in the office of the secretaries, Messrs. BroWn, 
Fleming, and Murray, 163, "West George-street, 
Glasgow, Mr. Rolert King presided. 
The directors, in their report, stated that 
owing to unfavourable weatlier the crop of 
tea harvested was 17,973 lb. below that of last 
year. The lower prices and the higher rate 
of exchange have also prejudicially affected the 
result. The balance at the credit of prolit and 
loss account, including £.3.59 Ss 9d brought for- 
ward from last year, is £1,389 Is 6d. From this 
the directors have already paid on January 1st, 
1898, an interim dividend at the rate of 5 per 
cent per annum, free of tax, amounting to 
£775, leaving a balance of £614 Is 6d, which 
the directors propose should be applied in pay- 
ment of a dividend for the half-year of 2.^, 
per cent per annum, free of tax, £389 lOs. 
making 3'^ per cent, for the year, and that 
the balance of £226 lis. 6d. be carried forward 
to next year. Depreciation at the rate of 10 per 
cent, has, as usual, beeu written off tea machinery 
and factories. During the year there has been 
expended on the factories and machinery the sum 
of £903 2s 8 J. 
The Chairman said the directors regretted that 
they had to submit a disappointing report. The 
crop had been very nearly 18,000 lb less than in 
the ])revious ycir. This falling off was due to 
the unfavourable weather. The s.iiallness of 
the crop was a matter of considerable disap- 
pointment to the directors, expecially as the 
estimate for the year was 5,000 lb, in excess of 
that of the previous year. Although the 
small crop was the principal cause of the disap- 
pointmeijt, the result hxd also be piejudicially 
