Feb. ], 1899. 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
553 
year. Australia 16, America perhaps eiffht, and other 
outside countries six — if Ceylon produces 1'25 millions, 
there will remain only 85 for London, which Brit un 
can e:'sily absorb It is India tliat really needs 
other niiirkets, and instead of stopping the Fund, it 
should, like Ceylon, double it fjr a year. I call opou 
your brother planting editors of Bengal to take the 
matter up." 
We truit Indian tea planters, ('alcutta mer- 
chants and the trade generally will take wainiiif^ 
from tiie above. In place of giving; up, tlisy 
ougiit to double their fund for ad\ertising in 
America and on tlie Continent of Europe. If, 
on the other hand, they choose to withdraw, it 
will become the duty of tlie Ceylon Tea Coni- 
niittee to devise niean.s to advertise the good 
name and . character of Ceylon tea.'? alone and to 
ignore ''Indiann" as no longer worthy of the 
same attention. 
THE FUTURE OF TEA: INDIAN 
EXTENSIONS AND THE CURRENCY. 
Under date, Edinburrili, 15th Dec, Mr. A. L. 
Cross writes:—"! enclose prosiiectus of a New 
Issue of first mortgage Debentures of the Lungla 
(.Sylhet) Tea Company, Limited :— 
The Comp.iuy was formed in 1895 to acquire ex- 
tensive Te i Estates in the district of Sylhet and 
province of A=;sam, having an area of 14,882 acres, of 
v/hich 3,907 acres were under tea. The total cost to 
the Company was £190,000, including all existing 
bail lings and machinery on the Estates. 
The Directors, from the commencement of the 
Company's operations, adopted the policy of extending 
the area of cultivation with indigenous plant, and 
up to tlie end of ihe year 1897 the expenditure on 
extensions amonnted to £10,159, in addition to which 
the sum of i'9,G77 has been expended on new buildings 
and machinery, making a tot.il capital expenditure 
incurred to the date named on extensions and new 
works of £49, .38(3. The outlay for the maintenance 
of the extensions to the end of the year 1898 will 
probably- bring this amount up to £60,000, and it is 
estimated that from ilO,000 to £15,000 more will b« 
required before the extensions are brought in'o full 
bearing. 
The result of the above expenditure on the extensions 
already commenced is expected to bring up the area 
of tcv under cultivation to 5,400 acres, and it has 
now been decided to make an issue of Debentures 
to replace the amount expended on capital account.* * ' 
The profits earned in each year since the formation 
of the Company have been as follows, viz : — 
18=)5 .. .. £12,706 
189B .. .. 13,217 
1897 . . . . 7,608 
The annual charge for interest on the Debentures 
will be £:-},75C. 
The outturn of the Company's Estates for 1897 
was considerably below the normal owing to the 
season being throughout India an unfavourable one 
for the production of tea, while, on the other hand, 
the expenditure was increased by the advance in the 
rate of exchange. 
Lungla, Shuinshernugger and Kannyhatti, which are 
the princinal Estate! of the Company, are well 
known as bjin"; among the finest properties in Sylhet, 
and with normal seasons and the large extent of 
new cultivation coming forward, it may be reason ihly 
anlicipa ed that the result of the Company's opera- 
tions will improve in the near future. 
" This dues not look like restricting the ontinit 
of Tea? I I'alher from the Cliaiinian's speech at 
a recent ni'^eiing that it is the intention of the Com- 
jiany, notwiihstan. ling the high rate of exchange, 
lo go on with further extensions. It i.s surely 
IV foolish proceeding for all interested in tea, lo 
go on opening large areas in tea to still further 
glut the market. 
" Unless producers can make a big row in Parlia- 
ment over the e.vchange question as affecting 
proiiucers you may depend on it the jfresent 
Government will impose a gold currency in India. 
"The formation of the Currency Commission is 
simply scandalous. It is almost entirely com- 
posed of nien pledged to play into the hands of 
the Indian Government. I wonder why the 
Native States of India don't make a noise about it. 
My own impression is that exchange is now 
likely to keei) up to about Is 4d so there is no 
necessity for a gold currency. 
"We are having ratiier more settled weather 
at present, but it has been a moie stormy winter 
than the last two. I heard Kensit's speech on the 
subject, ' Why are we Protestants ?' and he gave me 
the impres>ion of being a very manly, strai'dit- 
for ward fellow, but 'Cockney' in s])eech some- 
what." 
DR. WATT'S BOOK ON TEA PESTS 
AND BLIGHTS. 
A planter, who has got this book through 
our otiice and read it carefully, is very earnest 
in insisting that there ought to be a copy in the 
hands of every estate Manager in Ceylon, and 
that connected and united action should be taken 
to fight certain pests ami blights at their very 
first appearance in tea. Dr. Watt is \-ci'y clear 
in his description of these blights ami the sooner 
his book is read and studied the better. 
FROxM COOLGARDIE, WESTERN 
AUSTRALIA. 
{Extract from letter of a Ceylon visitor.) 
CoOLGARDiE,'30th Dec. 1898 
The heat up here for some days was enou'crh 
to knock bronchitis out of anyone. Satnrda'V 
the day befoie Christmas, it was 105 in the 
shade, and on Wednesday it was from IC6 to 110 
in the sliade with a hot wind Idowing— sometliing 
fearful. All say that I stood it very well, but in 
the afternoon I had to find the darkest room and 
lay up for a few hours. At 11 p.m. it w.as 98 
in the shade. I spent about eleven days in p'ertii 
It is a fine town, well laid out, and it ha< now 
some very fine brick and stone bnildii.«s in it 
There are between twelve and fifteen banks in 
the town and a few good hotels, or what thev 
consider good here. I was staying at the Palace 
Hotel, aline building, built about two years a"0- 
in fact, most of the good buildings have lieen 
put up these last two or tiiree years, I am told • 
but the sanitary state of the town is fur froni 
satisfactory, and the water is far from good • in 
fact, I could not drink it— it had sucli "a nasty 
taste. The thing that astonislies me is where 
they managed lo get the moi;ey from, to build 
such a fine town in such asliort time. Stran"e to.sav 
I did not see Cei/lon tea ailveriised at all about the 
town. I think there should be a good openinir 
there for any agency. The journey from Albany 
to Perth was a vpry tedious one, about 350 miles 
—a night journey with four men in one com. 
partment was anything but nice. I arrived at 
"Coolgardie" about eight days ago. I waa 
nuicli surprised to sec the extent of the town : 
it is well laid out with very broad sirees, but 
1 consider about half filled up with bulidings to 
