Jan. 2, 1899.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
495 
of tha lower leaves show symptoms of returning 
yellow, the tobacco is ready for harvesting. \\ here 
American seed has heeu tried in Coimbatore and 
iMadura, every field process is retarded, and alto- 
gpther more labor aud exnense are involved m 
the cultivation. It has alscT been found that the 
product is not so good for smoking or shewing 
as the country tobacco. The leaves are cer- 
tainly larger and broader, but they are thinner and 
have not the same strength and pungency of flavour. 
Various methods of curing are practised, but in 
Coimbatore and Madura the leaves, after drying in 
the field for a day or t.vo, are hung over poles or 
ropes, or, where the milk hedge is grown oyer it 
preferentially, to acquire thence a flavour, but in the 
shade ; and subsequently stacked in heaps which are 
regularly pressed till the curing is completed. 
Doubtless the tobacco grown in the south is capa- 
ble of great improvement, but no stimulus is given 
for the production, of a superior article, because the 
demand for the coarse tobacco is very great and 
really greater than the supply, and it is found to 
pay better to grow a Hrge quantity of inferior leaf 
than n small quantity of superior. The pereuninal 
character of the tobacco plant is thus not calculated 
to exercise any material influence on the cultivation 
down scuth. 
Another discovery made by the same foreign ex- 
pert may prove of greater utility to the tobacco 
grower, namely, that the plaut can be propagated 
by layering and that the layered plant resists the 
ravages of insects better than the plant raised from 
seed, but this pre supposes a vast amount of delicate 
agricultural labor, which the Indian ryot is not prone 
to expend on any product however valuable.— Pioneer, 
Dec. 14. 
TEA CORPORATION, LIMITED 
(OF CEYLON). 
KEPOltT OF THE DIRECTOR.S AND ACCOUNTS TO 
3uTH JUNE, 1898, TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE 
SECOND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF 
SHAREHOLDERS ON THE SEVENTH 
OF DECEMBER, 1898. 
The Directors be^ to submit herewith the 
accounts of the Company for the year ending 
30tli June, 1898, and tliey regret that the results 
shown therein are not satisfactory. 
The period covered by the accounts has been 
one of depression for the Tea industry generally. 
The ri.se in exchanije, the increased cost of rice, 
combined with the "^liigh freights which prevailed 
during the greater part of the year, have added 
materially to the cost of production ; while, on 
the other hand, the depressed state of the lea 
market lias resulted in lower prices being obtained 
The Company was formed to take over and 
work certain estates in Ceylon from 1st July, 
1897 ; owing, however, lo legal difficulties and 
delays in Colombn, which your Directors were 
nnahle to control, the estates were not conveyed 
to the Company until the end of that year. 
Consequently, ior the lirst half of the period 
under review the original owners managed the 
properties on account of the Company, and the 
result showed, when their accounts were presented, 
a considerable loss on the working. 
As soon as your Directors got possession, they 
took steps to improve the management and 
curtail the expenditure as far as posnible, and 
in this they were ably seconded by Mr. Tatham, 
the Managing Director, wiUi the result that the 
cost of tlie Tea per lb. F.O.B. was reduced from 
ijJ.^o cents to 2o.9G centa ; included in this latter 
rale is a sum of £1,100 for manure, which under 
ordinary circumstances would have been sj read 
over the whole year, as well as a large item 
for weeding and pruning some of the estates 
which hai been neglected. The whole of this 
has been debited to working expenses. 
Although the cro]) for the lirst six months fell 
short of estimates, the in'oductioii of Tea for 
the year amounts lo 1,112,606 lb., and the 
DirecLors are of opinion, that it Mr. Tatham had 
had control for the whole of the time, this 
total would have been mateiialiy increased. 
The working of the estates shows a profit of 
£1,701 18s ■Id., after wiping oil the loss on the 
first six months, and charging the whole of the 
Ceylon expenses. After charging London expenses 
and Debenture interest there is a loss of £1,620 6s. 
Your Directors have recently authoiized a 
certain .nniount of prospecting for plumbago, with 
the result that a vein was struck on Spriiigwood, 
as well as two small veins on other estates, which 
are repoi'ted as being of good quality. So far 
the prolifc on the plumbago secured has been so 
satisfactory that your Directors have sent instruc- 
tions for operations to be energetically continued. 
The estimates furnished by Mr. Tatiiain for 
1898/1899 are encouraging. He hopes to secure 
over 1,. 300,000 lb. of Tea at a cost of about 25 
cents per lb., and about 500 cwt. of Cocoa. 
The Director retiring in rotation is Mr. Vivian 
Hugh ymitli, who, being eligible, oilers himself 
for re-election. 
The Auditors, Messrs. Broads, Paterson & Co., 
also retire, and offer themselves for re election. 
E. T. BAKTLETT, Secretary. 
SPRING VALLEY COFFEE COMPANY 
LIMITED. 
Directors. — Alfred Brown, Managing Director ; 
Leon Famin aul P. C. Oswald. 
Secretary. — J. Alec Boberts. 
Ofeiges. — .5, Dowgate Hill, London, E.G. 
REPORT 
To be presented to the Thirty-fourth Ordinary 
General Meeting of the Company to be held at No. 5, 
Dowgate Hill, London, on Tuesday, the 13th day of 
December, 1SS)8, at 12 o'clok noon. 
The following: annual Accounts are now presented to 
Shareholders, viz,:— Profit and Loss Account for Crop 
18".)7-8 ; Balance Shee' made up to .31st July, 1898. 
Additional Capital having been subscribed for plant- 
ing with Tea the balance of the available land, and for 
providing the necessary factory accommodation, there 
is no longer any reason for deferring the issue of the 
Accounts to the date adhered to in former years. Tha 
Ordinary General Meeting has therefore been convened 
for the 13th instant, or six months earlier than usual, 
in order that the Accounts may be in the hands of 
Shareholders as soon as possible after the close of the 
season which ended on 31st July last. 
CROP 1897-8. 
A small crop of Coffee was secured for the above 
season, the actual weight sold in London being 175 
cwt. 3 qrs. 22 lb. This crop inclusive of clean and 
refuse Coffee sold in Ceylon realized £865 53 -Id, 
the average selling price being 96s 5d per cwt. as 
compared with 85s lOd per cwt. obtained for crop 
1890 97. 
The crop of Toa amounted to 391,'100 lb., and this, 
logether with 85,080 lb. brought from neighbouring 
estates and manufactured at Spring Valley, sold for 
£10,305 19s Id, or an average of 82^ per lb., 
the average selling price last year being S lOd 
per lb. 
The yield from the 1,045 acres of Toa in full 
and partial bearing was 375 lb. per acre ngaina^ aa 
