262 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. |Oct. 1, 1898. 
kind. ^ You might as well talk of establiuluug 
oak forests in England to stait a new industry 
witii. Tea gave profitK in throe years to the 
Ceylon planters. Indiarubber would take many 
years before success was assured." 
NILGIKI GAME AND FISH PRESERVATION 
ASSOCIATION. 
The following are extracts from the report of 
this Association for the past year :— 
DESTBUCTION OF VEBMIN. 
The following are a detailed Btatiatics of the above 
for the past five years : — 1893-01, 6 eagles, 1.'! wild catts, 
5 mongooses ; 1894-05, 23 eagles, 48 wild cats, 20 
mongooses, 14 crow phsasants, 1 wild dog, 1 otter ; 
1895-96, 58 eagles, 42 wild cats, 31 mongooses, G crow 
pheasants, 6 wild dogs, 10 otters ; 189G 97, 263 eagles, 
96 wild cats, 52 mongooses, 24 crow pheasants, H 
wild dogs, G otters ; 1897-98, -15 eagles, 108 wild cats, 
37 mongooses, 52 crow pheasants, and 2 wild dogs. 
INCREASE OF GAME AND llESULTS OF PBOTECTION. 
As remarked last year, it ia impossible to pronounce 
definitely on this subject. There are plenty of sanibur 
in various parts of the district. In Kodanad there 
has been a marked increase of late years. In the 
South-East Wynaad forest sambur are this year 
particularly numerous. On the other hand bison seem 
to be diminishing in Mudamali. In the Mayar 
and adjacent reserves there arc a goodly number of 
spotted deer. 
roicniNG. 
The amount of poaching in the Scegur Range is, 
however, deplorable. Every salt-lick is watched from 
machans or screens, and a great many animals must 
be done to death by these means. The Forest De- 
Eartment ought to be more on the alert, but is short- 
andcd as usual. 
RAIDING SAJIBURS. 
Special measnres have been taken to prevent the 
raiding of siubui by Kurumburs during the monsoou, 
when no Europeans are about. The success of these 
measures cannot be judged by the number of ''cases" 
detected, for the Kurumbur ia too smart to be caught, 
but in the year or two the result may be evident 
in a large number of doer on the grounds. 
lliEX SHOOTING 
has been thrown open, and some very good heads 
have been bagged, some small ones, too, and a doe 
or two by mischance. Sportsmen, must for their own 
sake, look to it that the shooting is not overdone and 
try to detect any case of imraatui-e bucks or of does 
being killed, whether by accident or otherwise. With- 
out such care another long period of closure must 
be enforced, 
A REGISTER OP THE NAMES OP SIHKARIEa. 
While dealing with the protection of game, another 
register which has been opened in the District Forest 
office may be mentioned, for, if successful, it may 
have very important results. This register is to con- 
tain the names of all shikaries recommended by reli- 
able sportsmen of experience. It will take some time 
to work properly, perhaps, but if, as is hoped, license- 
holders will give the preference to the men on the 
Association register, the best men will readily look 
themselves and think twice before they do anything 
to forfeit their privilege, while the loafing, poaching 
Kandal scoundrel, and who is anything by turns and 
nothing long will find his chief occupation gone. These 
are the men who get hold of young hands and induce 
them to kill game not worth the powder, but for the 
sake of the meat which falls to their own share, and 
do not hesitate to break bounds in the pursuit, of game 
into reserves closed against shooting. 
TROUT CULTURE. 
Major Grant reports with regret that all efforts 
to obtain a consignment of trout ova this season 
have failed, through the Director of the German 
Government Fish Farm at Kensington being unable 
to arrange for the proper shipment of the ova. In 
future Major Grant thinks the Association should 
always arrange for the ihipment of the ova and 
suggests that the Madra.8 Chamber of CouiDM;rc« 
miglit be willing to absibt. The bad tffecu on the 
^If .'^""^ f""? °f 'be swamp water, which pupplied the 
old hatching house at •' Snowdon," was told in lut 
year's report. Accordingly a new hatch bouse has 
been built on the stream in Gleurock, near the hiflo 
Butt there. It is hoped that much better reeulls 
will be obtained with hatching work in the fiitare. 
The trout in the Khenda river are doing very well] 
and Major Grant ha« reason to believe that there 
are many more of these than was previously supposed 
and that this river is sufficiently choked to allow 
fishing to be opened. 
INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA COMPANIES. 
About a couple of months ajjo we dealt with 
the results for tiie year 1897 of a number of 
Indian and Ceylon tea companies. For the most 
part these were di'^appointin;;, nearly all <»f tlie 
undertakings i-liowinjj;, a-i compared with the pre- 
vious year, a decline in piodte, eiilailing the 
payment of reduced dividemis, and iictompanied 
by a considerable decline in the maiket value 
ot their shares. And now, from the iiiuilytioal 
table publibhed annually by Mr. Guorj^e Seton, 
which covers the operations of a much laijjei 
number of companies, it appears that iheie.sulu 
then brought out were not exce(itional, but were 
characteristic of the experience of the industry as 
a whole. Mr. Seton's table embraces 4j com- 
panies registered in London, witli an aggregate 
panl up capital of £7,210,000. That is the 
same nnml-er as was dealt with in his stnte- 
iiieut of last year ; but the composition of the list 
IS not the .^ame, some companies which were then 
included being now omitted, and others snb^tj- 
tuted in their place. For this reason any com- 
paiison of the amount of capital, acrejige, and 
yield of crops shown in the two statements would 
be fallacious. A comparihon of average results, 
however, holds good, and in nearly every respect 
that IS unfavourable. The one sati-sfriciory feature 
is a very trifling re<luction in the co.-t of i.ro- 
dnction. 'I hat aveiged 713d per lb. as compared 
witli7 I6d in I89(i. On the other hand, however 
the receipts, which in 1896 averaged 9 .3ld i>er 
lb., fell last year to an average of'"8-71d per lb. 
As a consequence, the margin of profit, 
which in 18'JO was 2 lod per lb. was reduced to 
l-o8d. And a.s the prolits had to be spread over a 
bigger amount of capital, the proportion of pro- 
lits to capital showed a .still iarcer decrease, 
falling from 9 48 per cent to 5 98 per cent while 
the dividends on the ordinary and preference share 
capital, which worked out in 1896 to an average 
of 9 per cent dioitped to li per cent there beiuT 
also a proportionate reduction in the balanc^ 
carried forw.Tril. 
For this reduction in prolits the main causes were 
afallin the selling price of tea and ashortageof 
the crop, the yield per mature acre liavint. fallen 
from an average of 496 lb. in 1896 to 470 ib. in 1897 
But in a circular issued this week, Messrs Gow Wii'- 
son and Stanton seek to lay the blame for the lefs 
profitable condition of the industry at the door 
of the Indian Government. "The artificial value 
recently given to the rupee by the closing of the 
mints by the Government ot India handioaiis " 
they say, " the growers of India and Ceylon in 
their competition witli their rivals in other tea- 
producing countries whose currency is ruled bv 
natural law.s. The force of this ivsseriion how- 
ever, is obviously weakened by their further 
statement that " hitherto fortunately for Indian 
traders, theChines2haveuot beenable toavail thenj- 
