Nov. 1, 1898.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
Just think for a moment what this means. One 
rupee exobanged every year for the first 10 years 
would have produced xl O-4: one rupee exchanged 
every year for the last 10 years would have pro 'uced 
133. One rupee spent in rice every year for the 
first 10 years would have purchased nearly 23S seers 
of rice; one rupee spent in rice for the last 10 years 
would have purchased 148 seers of rice, and yet 
writers of weight like M^. T. Lloyd come forward 
and airily assert that Ideal prices in India hive not 
risen. The inclusion of 1S97 in my calculations 
cannot be objected to on the score of being a famine 
year, for there have been frightful famines in the 
other years that are included. At the same time it 
is worth noting that in 1897 a rupee would purchaia 
far less rice in Bengal than in any former year. 
The average price of rice in Bengal may be com- 
pared by those interested with the following table 
ot cost of rice per bushel on a typical Ceylon 
upcountry plantation : — 
PBICES OP RICE ON ST. JOHN DEL REY 
ESTATE, BOGAWANTALAWA, FBOM 
186(3 TO 1898. 
('Supplied from 1866 to 1893 to the Currency 
Commission; after that hij request for 
'.'Ferguson's Directory." J 
Highest 
Monthly 
Pi ice per 
Bushel. 
Lowest 
Monlhly 
Price. 
Average 
Price for thi 
Year. 
s. d. 
J. d. 
s. 
d. 
18"6 
25 0 
9 9 
11 
5 
18G7 
17 0 
7 0 
10 
9 
1868 
8 6 
7 3 
7 
18f!9 
8 3 
7 9 
7 
u 
1870 
7 9 
7 9 
7 
9 
,1871 
7 11 
7 8 
7 
R. c. 
E. c. 
E 
c. 
1872 
4 40 
4 13 
4 
20 
1873 
4 25 
3 88 
4 
2 
1874 
4 50 
4 25 
4 
44 
1875 
1876 
4 58 
4 45 
4 
50 
1877 
6 83 
6 6 
5 
41 
1878 
5 80 
5 12 
5 
49 
1879 
5 50 
4 75 
5 
21 
1880 
4 62 
3 80 
4 
14 
1881 
3 90 
3 S7 
3 
68 
1882 
3 75 
3 27 
3 
46 
1883 
3 70 
3 37 
3 
45 
1884 
3 83 
3 70 
3 
78 
1885 
4 00 
3 75 
3 
86 
18:J6 
3 80 
3 75 
3 
76 
1887 
3 70 
3 35 
3 
61 
1888 
3 60 
3 45 
3 
62 
1889 
4 25 
3 65 
3 
89 
1890 
4 00 
3 85 
3 
91 
1891 
3 82 
3 82 
3 
82 
1892 
4 40 
3 80 
4 
04 
1893 
4 40 
4 20 
4 
29 
1894 
4 
02 
1895 
3 
63 
1893 
3 
82 
1897 
4 
44 
1898* 
4 
24 
Giles F. Walker. 
* 6 month5. — a.r.w. 
The Pineapple Crop ov Florida this year is 
estimated at 150,000 to 160,000 crates. I>ast year 
the crop amounted to 220,000 crates. Frost is to 
blame tor there being less this JSM.- -Journal 
THE PINE HILL ESTATES COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
THE Dirj'CTOES' REPORT 
is as follows : — 
The Directors have pleasore in submitting their 
Fifth Annual Report and Accounts audited for the 
season ended 30th June, 1898, 
The amount earned on Profit and Loss 
Account including the balance brought for- 
ward was . . . . . . . . E9,521-47 
Out of which an Interim Dividend of two 
per cent was paid absorbing . , 4,174-80 
From the balance the Directors propose 
to pay a final dividend of 2J per cent ab- 
sorbing .. ., ., 
E5, 346-67 
5,218-M 
And to carry for-;vird the remainder . . R123-17 
It will be seen that although the Dividend for the year 
is less than that paid in the previous year, the Estate 
has really done better than before, the Working 
Account showing a balance of BIO, 256-51 against 
P8,975-18 last year. Last year, however, the profit 
©n the sale of Nahakettia was included in the Profit 
and Loss Account and increased the Dividend. 
During the past year part of the uninvested Capi- 
tal has been spent in buying a further lOlk acres of 
land and in clearing part of it. To clear and plant 
the whole will coat a further RIO.OOO, making with 
the present Capital coat (E163,790-60) a total cost of 
say E174,000 00. 
The Company will then own 381 acres o£ Tea, and 
the cost per acre will only be E460 00, a fairly low 
cost for the property. 
Mr. J. Roydon Hughes having left the Island, the 
Directois have temporarily appointed BIr. H. St. 0. 
Bowie Evans to act in his place as Visiting Agent 
and Inspecting Director, and they ask the Share- 
holders' approval of this arrangement. 
There are two vacancies among the Directors, one 
caused by Mr. Hughes' depanure and one by Mr. T. 
B. Campbell's retirement in terms of the Articles of 
Associatioa. Mr. Campbell being eligible, offers him- 
self for re-election. 
An Auditor will also have to be elected. 
Mackwood & Co., Agents & Sooretarieg 
MR. T. CHRISTY'S HOT HOUSES 
AND NURSERIES. 
After one or two postponements, I went down to 
Wallington. near Croydon, to see over thehot-housts 
and seed-nurseries at Manor House, the residence of 
Mr. T. Christy, the Produce expert. His son. Mr. 
Gilbert Christy, met me at the gate where for a 
momentwewatched ahotchaseafter a runaway cock 
pnr-~ued by two stable-boys. Proceeding through 
the greenhouses and grounds, -wliich were spacious 
and contained a number of grand old trees, I was 
shown many plants ol interest of which I will men- 
tion only a few. First I saw the family patent, 
called Christia, a sort of substitute for oil-silk, 
of which a long roll half-hnishcd was hanging 
loosely out to dry in a shed that we passed through. 
This material is specially prepared for the 
tropics, for bandages, poultices &c., as preferable 
to oil silk which becomes aft'ected by the heat. 
In the green-houses wc saw a great many seed- 
lings ; one box of cacao-plants liad been a great 
disappointment, the beans seeming to rot and not 
producing healthy [ilanls, though successive ]ost 
had been watched and tended for nearly 2 years. 
African and Mexican collee plants looked tlo'nrish- 
ing, numbers of these being exported annually. 
¥ibre plants including ramie and p good specimen 
