840 
Tilfi THOtlCAL 
AGEICULTURIST 
[June 1, 1899. 
tliat lady was supjilying liini with the " cup which 
cheers," in which he tells her : — 
Thou can'st not make the tea 80 fast 
As I can gulp it down. 
Dr. Johnson's record as a tea drinker must stand. 
1 should suppose eacli cup contained about one 
third of a pint. I'wenty four cups would tims 
rei)resent four quarts. This was ihe (juaniuni for 
an entire evening, and Dr. Johnson's evening 
often lasted (more Hihernico) till four next morning. 
Say he began to talk and drink tea at ten, and 
continued for six hours, there is nothing so re- 
markable in the quantity. Many beer-drinkers in 
any of our large towns could dispose of as much 
liquor in an even shorter time. It is also wortliy 
of note that Dr. Johnson was a very liirge man, 
that he talked niucli and perspired freely 
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF WATER 
POWER. 
Having in view the increasing ecarcity of firewood 
in the island of Ceylon, and the fact that, away from 
therailway, oil is too expensive, it is pretty evident 
that, sooner or later, some other means of obtaining 
the necessary poAver for the driving of machi- 
nery will have to be devolved. A decided 
step in this direction has been m.ade by Messrs. 
Whittall & Co., who, at the commencenicnt of 
this month, laid down at Hayes estate, in the Moro- 
wakKorale, the property of the Union Estate 
Company, an installation for the electrical trans- 
mission of water power for the factory, and have 
met, we are glatf to learn, willi unnualilied 
success. It is the first instance of succesi-ful elec- 
trical transmission on any estate in Ceylon, though 
it has been attempted elsewhere, and is a good 
example in a small way of what can be done in this 
direction. 
The diHiculty on Hayes estate iias been that, 
though therH is water power, it is below any spot on 
which a fa;!tory could have been built and so the 
ciieapest of all powers could not be utilised direct. 
An idea was njooted, therefore, some years ago on 
the same estate, to utilize a wire rope transmission ; 
but as the result of a visit by Mr. Garratt (engineer 
to Messrs. Whittall &Co.), it was clearly seen that 
electrical transmission would be far cheaper, and 
certainly more simple, than any other system. The 
factory at Hayes is rather a large one tor the 
district, and the power is transmitted from a 
point one-tliird of a mile distant from the estate. 
The total fall of water utilized is 250 feet, and, 
without going into too technical details, it will 
interest planters to learn that with only 18^ 
brake or actual horse power at the Pelton wheel, 
the following machinery was driven, all doing 
work and the rollers hard lolling : — One Brown's 
Roller ; 1 thirty- two inch Rapid Roller ; 1 Econo- 
mic Roller ; 1 Downdraft Sirocco ; 1 No. 3 Desic- 
cator ; 1 Venetian Dryer, a Roll-breaker and a 
made-tea sifter. 
The conducting line is overhead, and consists of 
two bare coiiper wire, supported on procelain in- 
sulators, similar to those used by the telegraphs. 
In the factory, of course, rubber insulated cables 
are used. The running of the plant is entirely in 
the hands of the ordinary cooly, and the working 
appears exceedingly .simple ; in fact, all the atten- 
dant at the Pelton wheel and generator-house has 
to do is to keep the wheel running at one constant 
speed, which is indicated by a tachometer or revo- 
Jution indicator. As long as this is done, the 
motor in the factory also runs at practically a 
constant speed. 
Thruughout the island there are naniberd of 
Bteatnerf, small and large, «vhicti are fairly conetaot 
all the year round, and could <'«ry e&fily be tuined 
to good itccouril. The Uiiyes imslallaiiun i» wouder- 
fully simple ; in fact, uo lr(iii»'mit>«ioD could (>ott«i- 
b!y be urjre simple ilmn that from one gent-riitur 
to ouc motor. When trauKinitting to several 
points and snb-diviiling the power, however, a 
difk'ieiit t-ystem has to bo Uhed, and beconiCB, |>er- 
ha|>s, a liule more cumiilicaied, altliouL'h, a« a 
mailer of fact, there its absolutely no difficulty in 
transniiiting from one large btreani to any num- 
ber (if factories within a reaiiouable distance — aay, 
a radius of live miles. 
It i*s admitted that the u^e of coal is prmc- 
tically out of the queflion. Oil engines are satiH- 
factory and ccjnnmical in dit-tricts near the 
railway. But, on the other hand, nothing can 
compete with free water power. With this new 
system there ib no smoke, noi»e or lie<it and Meaers. 
Whittall & ^lo., who are ie>>iK»n»ible for the luyioK 
of the platit, utj well as Mr. Garratt, under 
whose personal KUiierviKion it was erected, are 
extremely satihfied with their venture. Weaie 
assured that in the system a« desigiied there are 
absolutely no electrical dangers. We shall !>« 
glad to hear of the further succcas of the under- 
taking. 
— ■ « 
THE EASTERN PRODUCE AND ESTATES 
COMPANY. LIMITED. 
DiRECTOBS. — Ralph A Cameron, Maoaf^inK Director, 
Norman W Grieve, C J Lindsay, NicboUoD, David 
Reid, Christopher B Smith, Edwatd Wahab, Douglai 
B Smith, Secretary. 
Report to be presented at the twelfth ordinary gene- 
ral meeting, to b^ held at Winchett^r Uoose, Old 
lirctd Street, at 12 o'clock uood, ou the 27th 
Apiil, 18!I9. 
Ti e Dir- ctors submit Report and balance sheet for 
the year ending Slst December, l8t*8. 
The profit for the year is £32,526 7a Id, which added 
to i;lO,87« liSs 3d, balance from last account 
amounts to £43,405 5 4 
From this has to be deducted : — 
Interest ou Debentures .. £4,612 10 0 
Debentures for £'7,.tOO drawn 
and paid off, with bonus of 6 per 
cent, on 3l8t Dec. 1898 . . 7,875 0 0 
Interim dividend of 2), per cent 
on preferred and ordinary share 
capital, paid 4th Nov., 1898 7,497 4 0 
19,984 14 0 
leaving a balance of -.. m. . . 23,420 11 4 
which it is proposed to appropri- 
ate as follows : — 
Final Dividend on the Prefer- 
red Shares of 2J per cent., mak- 
ing 5 per cent, for the year, and 
on the Ordinary Shares of 4§ 
per cent., making 7 per cent, for 
the year 18,440 1 6 
Balance to be carried forward 
as provision for retirement of 
Debentures in the current 
year 9,980 9 10 
£23,420 11 4 
As shown in the Schedule below, the Company, on 
31st December last, had 10,867 acres under Tea cul- 
tivation, of which 9,771 were over four years old. 
The yield of tea in 1898 was 3,643,000 lb., being 
about 6 per cent short of the estimate, owing to defi- 
ciency in the rainfall. The average gross sale prica 
waa 7-32d, 
