Dec. 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRiCtJLTUEIST. 
NEW DIMBULA COMPANY, LIMITED. 
EErORT, SEASON 1897 98. 
The Directors, in submitting their Thirteenth An- 
nual Statement of Accounts, are again able to con- 
gratulate thri Shareholders on the satisfactory result 
of the past year's working. 
The yield of Tea exceeded the estimate ; the yield 
per acre was larger, thongh it was not an ideal 
season for fluahins, and the prices obtained sliow a 
slight improvement on those of the previous year, 
wnilo the cost of production has been reduced ; on 
the other hand the rate of exchange ruled higher. 
The Estate is reported in good order throughout, 
including Factory and Machinery. 
The aiea of Te i in full bearing is 2.193 acres, 
according to the existing plan of the Estate ; a new 
detailed survey is being prepared, showing the various 
acreages more accurately. The extensions during the 
past two seasons amount to 152 acres. 
The accounts now presented show a surplus of 
£22,751 lis. 5d. after writing off the amount of Tea 
Extension Account, viz., £'738 15s. 9d., and the 
amount of the Factory and Machinery Account, viz., 
±'238 '2s. 2d. The Directors propose a dividend of 8 
per cent, per annum on the "A" and ' B" Shares, 
and 6 per cent, per annnm on the " C " Shares, for the 
year ended June 30th last, a moiety of which was paid 
in March; and they further propose an additional 
dividend of 8 per cent, on' all Shares, and the placing 
of £G,000 to the KeserveFund. 
The interests of the Company have, as usual, been 
very efficiently looked after by the Resident Manager 
and the Staff in Ceylon, the value of whose work the 
Directors heartily acknowledged. 
By order of the Board, A. Crabbe, Secretary. 
INDIAN TEA. 
The Indian Tea Association should issue tracts about 
Indian Tea. They are i esded. A correspondent sends 
us some particulars which throw light on the fancies 
indulged in by some ladies with regard to Indian tea. 
Oar correspondent came across the report of a meeting 
of the National Union of Women Workers held 
in London some mouths ago, at which the president 
of that body, Mrs. Alfred Booth, delivered the 
following denunciation of Indian tea : " Now," said 
the lady, addressing an assembly of school teachers, 
" for the one or two articles of diet which teachers 
ought to bear in mind. The first is Tea. When I 
first catne to England it was said that you could 
always get a good cup of tea, but I am very much 
afraid that now we shall have to drop that, for it is 
very seldom that you can get a good cup of tea. We 
all drink Indian tea because it is a new industry 
introduced into this mighty Empire, but may I call 
your attention to Indian tea and ask you to study it 
from a scientific point of view, and find out how 
much more tannin there is in it than in China tea '? 
You are, as reformers, in duty bound to consider this 
subject, and the effect upon the constitution of drink- 
ing Indian tea which has stood more than one or two 
minutes in hot water. A lady who has lived in China 
tells me the reason Indian tea is so much rabker than 
China tea ; it is because it is grown in virgin soil, and 
in fifty years Indian tea will become delicate like 
China tea. We generally think vir-gin soil is the most 
delightful soil for anything to grow in, but until it 
becomes seasoned — fifty or sixty years hence — will you 
ladies please be careful when you are giving your 
lessons on drinks to dwell particularly on the tannin 
in Indian tea, and its deleterious effects on the consti- 
tution'?" Tho tea-growers of China should be deeply 
obliged to Mrs. Booth, and the Indian Tea Districts 
Association might with advantage send the lady a 
few facts in connection with Indian tea which would, un- 
less she be hopelessly prejudiced, induce her to modify 
her opinion, and encourage the .spread of sound 
liuowledge. If the school teachers thus addressed 
have been carefully echoing her views the tannin 
bogey will be very much to the fore again before loDc. 
^H. ani C. Oct. 7. 
TEA IN THE CAUCASUS. 
Writing in the Pall Gazette about the resources of 
the Caucasus, Mr. E. Brayley flodgetts says : " Of late 
years the great tea merchants of Moscow, notably the 
celebrated firm of Popoff, which hasestateain China and 
officea in Mincing Lane, have started tea plantations in 
the Caucasus. These plantations, which were first tried 
as an experiment, have answered wonderfully well, 
and already large quantie.s of this Caucasian tea have 
been placed upon the Eussian market. The first tea 
raised was sent to the late Emperor Alexander III., 
who had the courage to drink it, and pronounced it to 
be excellent. As nobody has ventured to ascribe 
his Imperial Majesty'.s premature decease to this 
cause, we are compelled to assume that this Cau- 
casian tea is harmless as well as palatable. When 
I was travelling through the Caucasus I was 
very much surprised and amused to come against 
numbers of heathen Chinese, in correct Celestial at- 
tire—pigtails and all complete. They formed a most 
incongruous element in the scenery. I discovered that 
these gentlemen were tea-planters, who had been im- 
ported along with their own tea, and were now en- 
gaged in betraying their country's secrets to the 
barbarian. There is a colony of these Chinamen on 
the Caucasus. They have brought their houses with 
them, together with their manners and customs, and 
they get on uncommonly well." — II. and C. 3Iail, Oct. 14, 
MATURATA TEA COMPANY. 
At tlie meeting of this Company, held at the 
offices of the Maturata Tea Company on Friday, 
October 7, the following report was submitted : — 
The Directors' report and statement of accounts to 
30th June last, which was submitted to the meeting, 
stated that there was a net profit of £931 after pay- 
ment of debenture and preferenceinterest and Loudon 
charges Directors' fees, &c.) It was proposed to 
write off the whole of the preliminary expenses, 
amounting to £306, leaving a balance of £625, out of 
which the Directors recommended that a dividend of 
6 per cent, be paid on the ordinary share capital, less 
income-tax. This would absorb £480, leaving a balance 
of £145 to be carried forward. As the accounts were 
only made up to the 30th June, the dividend was at 
the rate of 8 per cent, per annum, and the Directors 
considered that, as the last year had been an unfortu- 
nate one for the Ceylon tea industry, this result was 
very satisfactory, 
« 
HOW TO MAKE TEA. 
AT INSTRUCTIVE PAPER BY DR. GOODFELLOU*. 
The Grocers' and Allied Trades' Exhibition is 
proving a great draw to the public. The Agri- 
cultural Hall was crowded last night with visitors 
who, for the main part, seemed to be bent on 
collecting handbills and "samples." In tl:e even- 
ing an interesting paper was read by Ur. Good- 
feilew on "Tea and Tea Drinlcing" in the lecture 
hall. The following remarks to which he gave 
utterance should be useful to liou.-:ewives who often 
sin in the matter of tea making. 
Tlie facts to be borne in mind in the piepara- 
tion of a cup of tea, said the doctor, are, tirst, to 
develop tlie aroma ; second, to obtain the maximum 
quantity of theine with the minimum percentage 
of tannic acid. In order to do this to perfection, 
he added, it is necessary to liave two hot, dry, 
earthenware teapots, and as soft a water as possi- 
ble. Should the ■water be hard it should be used 
directly it has started to boil, otherwise tlie pre- 
cipitation of the hardening salts will interfere 
witii the solution of the c(.nstilnents. Last, 
but not least, good tea must be used. The tea- 
pots should be placed in front of the fire, or on 
the hob, to get them warm. Good tea can sel- 
dom be made in a cold or wet tea-pot. Wiien 
tlie water bae codiq to the boil, the tea should 
