Oct. ], 1S9S.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
255 
Sir Robsrfc D. Moncreiff;, Bai-t., secondod the 
motion, and the report was adopted. 
The retiiiiitj directors — Sir Bo'oerfc D. MoncreiiTe, 
Bart., and Mr. P. R. Buchanan — were ro-e'ected on 
the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr. 
A. Vv'. Coat=!. 
The auditors were also reappointed, and a vote of 
thaiilfs having been passed to tlie Chairman for 
presiding, the meeting separated.— 7/. and C. Mail, 
Ang. 5. 
THE AMALGAMATED TEA ESTATES 
COMPANY, LIMITED 
Tlie second onnnal ordinary general meeting of 
the sliarehoiders of this Company was held at the 
ofiice of th3 Coavp.-'.uy, 22, West Niia Street, Glas- 
gow, on Friday, the 22nd nit., '^ir John Mnir, Bart., 
presidin;;. Aft r the usual preliminary business, the 
Chairman said : — 
We have tha pleasure in submitting for your 
adoption the accounts and directors' report for the 
year ended Novomher 30, 1S'.I7. You will doubt- 
less, hav^erused these documents, whi'di, therefore', 
I assume, may be taken as read. Altogether, the 
year undtr review h.ts been a very trying one. The 
crops in Darjetling and Assam were below the 
aveiaf!;e, both in qiiantity and quality, and, owing to 
the rise in exchange and the famine, our expenses 
were necojsaiily heavier; nevertheless the result of 
the year is vtry satisfactory, and we are able to pay 
a dividend o[ 10 per cent per annum on the ordin- 
ary shares, and . carry over a balance of i'20,70S ."i 
lOd to ne.\-t year, against a balance brought forward 
from last year of £1G,519 10; 8.1. During the year 
l.SIOi acres of new plant have been added to the 
CLiUivation, which, together with the expense ot up- 
keep, ef till oar uon-beaiir.g planf, lias cost us 
£52,1 OS Id, and we propose to plant a fnilher area 
of 2, (ill acres during the current year. You will bo 
■ pleased to iearn that most of these extensions are in 
Assam and Da: jeeling, and should be capable of produc- 
ing teas of the highest quality, for which, in our 
opinion, there will always be a good demand. You 
will notice by tlie report that we have sold two 
small e.-;tateb. Those _we were originally bonnd to 
talie over from the Land IMorcgage Bank, as we 
purchased the whole of that company's assets; but, 
at the time o£ purchise, wo attached no value to 
these particular pioperties, and we arc very glad to 
have been able lo disp;se of them so favourably, as 
they were not likely to bo a source of profit to 
this company. 'vVe are glad to be able to report 
th;'.t the company's investment in the Kanan 
Devan Company has given us a good return for 
llio past year, and we have full confidence that 
it will realise our e.xpectatious in the future. 
We have m ida an investment, in conjunction with 
the Consolidated and Kinau Devan Companies, in. 
toa distributing businesses in the United S'.ates of 
America, C.uiada, and Kussia. This we consider the 
most practical Wiiy of opening up new markets, and, 
whilst this is the first objtct of our investment, we 
have no doubt these businesses will yearly become 
moie important and remunerative. In response to 
the wishes of many shareholders, we propose shortly 
to t.ike steps to secure a Sto.:k E.xchange quotation 
for tlie Company. To do this it will be necessary 
to niiike soHit) alterations in our articles of associa- 
tion, au.i lorm.il meetings u ill be dulv called for this 
parpo:,o. With a view of providing funds to meet calls 
for the Kauan Devan Company, and also for 
^ the purpose of opening up tlie exceptionally fine 
^ hind wo hiive in Darjeeling and Assam, the directors 
propose to issue tlie remainder of the nominal capital. 
The works for which these funds will be required 
will grea'.ly add to the strength o£ the Company, 
and will, in our opinion, ensure even greater proa- 
perity in the future. You will bo glad to know that 
V : the latest reports from the estates are satisfactory. 
They aro all in good order, and yielding well, and 
wo hAva eycry reason to believe that the estimated 
crop wiil be secured— in fact, we have nothing that 
is not of a satisfactory rature to report to you today. 
I will not detain you any longer, but big to move: 
'•That the bal uiosshect and profit and loss account 
for the year ending November 30, 1S97, with the audi- 
tor's c£rt!5cs.te and directors' report thereon, be, and 
the stme are, hereby approved and adcptou ; that 
the dividend on the preference shares of b per 
cent., less income tax, paid for the year to Kovem- 
ber 30, 1S07, and the interim dividend g.t the rate 
of 10 percent, per annum, less income tax, for the 
six months to May 31, ]8S7, paid December 2.3, to 
the amount paid up on the ordinary shares of the 
company, be, and the sam.e are, hereby confirmed ; 
and that a dividend at the rate of J.0 per cent, per 
annum, less income tax, payable August .'>, for the 
six months to Kovember 30, 1807, be now sanctioned 
and declared out of the balance of the fiofits of 
the year on the amount paid up on the ordinary 
shares of the company, and the balance of £20,708 
OS lOd can led forward to next year." 
Mr. P. U. ]>uch:,u:".u seconded the motion, and the 
report was adouted. 
The retiring director, JMr, A. SI. Brown, was re- 
elected on tl'c motion of Sir Robert D. Moncrieffe, 
seconded by Mr. A. B. Murray. 
The auditor wiis also reappointed, and a vole of 
thanks having been p^assed to the chairman for 
presiding, the meeting separated.— //, and C. Mail, 
Aug. 5. 
MICA MIMKG IN BENGAL. 
It is not geueral y known that more than one- 
half the world's consumption of m\cs, comes from a 
sinaU di.nrict in S^ estern Bengal. Mica — better known 
under the n;;me ot talc — is much used by the natives 
for ormunentai pur})0se3. The thin silveriy plates 
are made into banners, tassels, fringes so much 
used by the poorer classes of Iiindus ai:d Mohame- 
dans on all festive occasicns. Large sheets form a, 
most dniaijle material, admiriibly suited for painting 
on, as being at once impervious to the attacks of 
insect pests and the weather. Scraps and waste 
mica are ground into a coarse powder, mixed with 
starch and applied to thin cotton cloths to give 
them a glistening appearance. It is said that as 
much as 10,000 maunds (S20.000 lb.) were extracted 
annually and carried to Delhi and Patna for sale. 
The mica from this district , known to commerce 
as Uehar mica, is the ui.est in the world. It 
is hard and tough and of a clear ruby colour, and 
answers best for furnace work where intense heat 
has to be withstood. Throngh apertures closed 
with sheets of mica, the workmen are abli to 
see the reactions tliat are going on within the 
furnance without occasioning loss of heat by open- 
ing the furnance door. The ruby tint of the mica 
also protects the eyes of the workmen from the in- 
tensely bright light of the incandescent mineral being 
treated within the furnace. There are some 300 mines 
at work in tlie districts of Hazaribagh, Gaya and 
Monghyr. The out-put last year amounted to nearly 
2,000,000 lb., of which about one-half was exported 
from Calcutta chiefly to the British Isles and the 
United S:ates of America. The exported mica was 
valued at RIO, 00,000 : that retained for home consump- 
tion, chiefly inferior kinds, at El, 00, 000. Mica is found 
in veins of granite (pegmatite) from three to ten feet 
wid.; runniiig through the gneissose rocks which make 
up the hills of this district. The mica occurs iu 
large crystals sometimes as much as two feet long 
eighteen inches wide, and nine inches thick. These 
crystals readily split into sheets along their length. 
In many places as much as a third of the bulk of the 
vein-matter is inica, the other constituents being 
quartz and feldspar. 
Altliough liluropeans have lately taken np the mica 
industry and the bulk of the mines are in their iiauds, 
yet the mining is conducted under purely native 
m ithods. The out-crops of veins are 0|)ened out by 
cuttings to a depth of from twenty lo fifty feet, the 
bottom of the cutting being reached by inclines, up 
