414 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Deo. 1, 1898. 
The proposal was seconded by Mr. Charles Arbath- 
not and carried. 
Mr. E Wortliingtou then moved the re-election of 
Mr. William Wright a3 auditor. This was seconded 
by Mr. P Mooce, and curried uuaiiimoasly. 
On the propoaal of Mr. G R Fife, seconded by 
Mr. C Linder, a vote of thanks was unanimously 
accorded to the chairman and the General Managers 
of the company. 
The Chairman, in responding, stated that lie had 
occupied the chair for seven years, and hoped he 
Bhould occupy it for many more. 
The proceedings then terminated — U. <■{- C. Mail, 
Oct. 7. 
INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA TllUST 
COMPANY, LTD. 
The lollowing is tl.e report of the Directori? 
presented to the .sliareiiolders at an ordinary 
{jeneral tneetinj; heiil at the oHices of the Com- 
pany, at 34, Nicholas Lane, London, E.C., on 
Friday, October 28tli :— 
The Directors, in presentinor the first annual 
report and accounts, made up to '.V)i\\ June 1898, 
I'egret that the period elapsed since the forma- 
tion of this Company has been an unsatisfac- 
tory one f»r the tea industry {jeneially. The 
chief causes of ilepression were the rise in 
the e.\clian}.;e and the fall in the price of tea, but 
the Direccors now look forward to a jjeneral im- 
provement in the conditions. 
The e.xperienco gained shows that there is 
room for the establishment of such an oifjanisa- 
tion as this Company. The income receipts 
shown by the accounts may be considered satis- 
factory, and in normal and more favourable 
circumstances the result would undoubtedly be 
better. 
The accounts accompanyin;; this report show 
that the total income ear-icd to oUtli .June 189S, 
amounted to £.3,061 4s lOd, and after paying; 
interest and the expenses of carrying oi^ the Trust, 
a net balance remains of £2,189 Is 8d. 
The investments of the Comany are shown 
in the balance sheet at cost price, but the 
present state of the tea industry has necessa- 
rily caused some depreciation in their value. 
Under these circumstances, the Directors re- 
gret that they are unable to recommend the 
payment of a dividend, and propose that the 
profit be carried lorward. They have also re- 
solved to forego the fees payable to them under 
the articles of association. 
In accordance with the articles of association, 
Mr. Keith F Arbuthnot retires from the 
office of Director, but being eligible, offers him- 
self for re-election. 
Messrs. Singleton, Fabian & Ce,, the audi- 
tors, do not seek re-election as such, as they 
have accepted responsibility for the secretarial work 
of the Company. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Arecas in the Straits.— a Chinaman, who 
has been doing a small trade in preparing areca- 
nuts for the Siamese market, was so satisfied with 
his venture that he has purchased 50 .acres of 
land from Malays, who had practically abandoned 
it, for the purpose, of planting areea-nuts. This 
produce is prepared for the Siamese market by 
gathering the nuts green, cutting them into thin 
slices, and drying them by fire,— i^e^orif, District 
Officer, Kuala Sdangor, for Sept. 1898. 
Factory SuPKUVisiON—With reference to 
1 lanter s letter, (see page 1 1 1 ) iiis suggehtion U 
a good one in the cai-e of fact.iries turnin" out hmv 
.•JO.i OOOIb. of tea and npwar.ls. Jiu, as a m'aite; 
of f,ict in Ceylon, can "Planter" point to estates 
under similar circumstances, the one with a 
European in the factory and tl.e other a native 
-and the former getting a much better price 
for Its tea ? Our native assistants in Ceylon 
are superior U) any in India we suspect. A 
planter calling on us as we write, who Kets a 
fair price, has never h.ul a leamaker, but tlie 
store kangani of the old coflee days. 
IvoKY.— If we ftie going to civilise Africa it 
appears we must makeup our niind.s to <lo with- 
out ivory. F(.r India is in these days unable 
to support herself in the matter of ivory. Theiefoie 
It is African ivory for us or none. The sales of 
ivory in London have gone on dwin.Iling until for 
the last three months they have reached au insi<'ui- 
ficant half-ton, a quantity that could be obtained 
from the tusks of forty or liffy elepIuinUs. The re- 
medy, of course, is to preserve elephants, ko that 
m future African sporlsnien nny have a red-letter 
day in their almanac— "elephani-shootin" be'ius." 
—Daily Villi, uiclc, Sept. '.-T. " " 
The Velvet Bean ok FLoniDA.-[To the 
Editor of the iypertafor.] Sir,— The "velvet bean, ' 
as might have been expected, has done no good 
hcie. Half of the shilling b.ig which was sent me 
I raised in a frame. Nearly every bean came up 
I put them out in the middle of June, but a cold 
night die ked them and they have hardly grown 
since. The otiier half was sown in the open in a 
sheltered kitchen garden, and was carefully 
watereil and cultivated. About half the seeds 
came up and have struggled to Irom .3ft. Ip 4ft. 
high, and not shown a sign of a fliwer-bud. The 
scarlet-runners close by are unusually gigantic. 
Will any one from the S'.uthern counties "record 
his -experience of the bean ?— 1 am, Sir, &c., 
Lutv Bkthell, Newton Kyme, Tadcaster, Oct. 3! 
RUBBKR GKOWN i\ FKRAK-fias just been f^old 
in London to the quantity of over 1^ cwt. at 
3s Id per lb. Ihe London Brokers reported as 
follows . — 
We have this morning received a letter from our 
triends who tested your rubber. They write us that 
the particular lot we sent ihenj lost 26* percent in 
washing but that they presume it would not be 
expected to arrive in bulk as dry as these two cases. 
Ihey continue assuming therefore that the loss in 
washing would reach 30 per cent. We consider its 
value 22 per cent below Fine Para. Taking Fine 
Tira at 4s H^d per pound this will bring value of th« 
parcel in question to nearly 3s 5d, but we expect 
manufacturers will scarcely give full value considering 
the trouble and expense put to in this instance, bat 
future lots will command full price. 
Soils and Manure.— After some compliment- 
ary remarks on our " Handbook and Directory" 
wliieh was the immediate cause of his writing, 
Mr. John Hughes adds in a letter dated Oct. 7th :— 
"I have received so many soils for examination 
and report during this year, that I think a tabu- 
lated statement of the results (without the 
names of the estates) would be of general inter- 
est to Tea iilanteis becau.se it is one thing to 
make the analysis and quite another thing to 
draw correct conclu-ions from the results. In 
order to make a practical report one should have 
a number of reliable results for comparison. Hence 
soil analyses and reports, require some practical 
experience in order to give useful recommendation 
in regard to the important constituents, that re- 
quire to be artificially supplied in any mixture of 
naanure. • 
