644 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUlilST. [JrsE 1. 18«9. 
A BATCH OF CEYLON TEA COMPANIES' 
RESULTS. 
The reports of the smaller Ceylon tea companies 
BO far piiljliwhed emphasise the flucluatint; 
cliaracter of the enterprise. Yield, ([ujility, and 
price appear to vary in the most bewilderiiiK 
fashion, and it is evident that liolders of shares 
in companies of this class must demand a 
high leturn upon their money, in order to 
face tiie vicissitudes that befaU the industry. 
The followirif,' table gives tiieir experience in 
regard to cro]) and price obtained :- 
Bandarapola 
Burnside 
Kdarapolla 
Kelani Valley 
Nahalnja 
Panawal 
Portmoie 
Yatiyantota 
Manure Acrage 
1897. IbUi. 
416 478 
1,034 « 
821 fSJ 
1, '200 1,2 0 
440 U<S 
tn 517 
472 474 
2, ('32 2,-i4'J 
Crop. 
1897. 
407,250 
3/7,145 
401,105 
032,0 'a 
245,:J:i6 
2.V',30J 
228,00{ 
1,014,201 
Price per lb. 
1593. I8i-7. ls98. 
^. 
Hi 
«} 
bi 
c} 
9i 
61 
395,270 
35e,45'> 
417,0.6 
57 8, ICO 
234,917 
29S,y>3 
24l.6iO 
1,136,791 
d. 
0 
r. 
(t 
u 
.;i 
In these results there a|ipears no sort of uni- 
formity, Pbr one company has a larger eiop, and 
another a smaller. This company has to sell its 
out-turn at a great diminution in price, while for 
that other the average is deciiledly higher. No 
doubt the marked variations arise partly fioni the 
sinallness of the concerns, as there aie so few 
acres over which to spread the resuh. The laicer 
companies, with a cultivated area ten times as 
great as some of those enumerated below, are able 
to bring out more regular results, as no doubt 
the change of yield and quality in one uroup of 
fields is often counterbalanced by opposite varia- 
tions on the part of anollier group. Profits have 
fluctuated even more widely than other results, 
but on the whole the year must he considered a 
poor one for the companies. Diviilemis have 
tended to decline rather than improvp, and tlie 
declines, where they have occurred, are usually 
more important than the additions to the 
dividends. The record in this respect is set forth 
in the subjoined table : - 
Net rrofits. Sums put to Dividend 
Depreciatiun, percent. 
• Bandarapola 
' Burnside 
■- Kdarapolla 
Kelani Valley 
Nahalnia 
Panawal 
Portmore 
Yatiyantota 
1807. 
1,956 
2,44Tc 
1,12S 
3,173 
207 
C09 
4,910 
3,739 
ISO?. 
£, 
1,4^8 
3!''5 
2,0tii 
1,478 
14:-6 
1,S14 
5,405 
7,C66 
Ac. 
1S&7. 189S. 1897 1898. 
£ £ a £ 
599 
18 
721 
lOla 
IIG 
211 
432 
4 ! 
7il3 
5'1 
750 
489 
1,639 
10 
5 
10 
2 
2 
12 
5 
5 
4 
12 
4 
lions, which Beeiiis to point to the oonclasion that 
they have taken warning f:oiu the experience of 
the past, and are no lunger content to go ttkalini; 
upon thin ice. If only the same care liad lieen 
exerci'ed in the past, the last two yeais might 
have been faced with comparative ea*e. At it if, 
if dividends are increased in the future, some time 
will be re(]uired to ellace the remembrance of 
what hui recently occurred. — Incc^tort' J{ecteu!, 
April 7. 
THE NUWAHA ELIVA TEA ESTATES 
COMl'ANY, LIMITED. 
Directors.— C. A. W. Cameron, 11. St. J. Obcar 
Thompson, Alexander Thomson, Wharram MeK, 
ginson ; ManiigiuK Agents and Secretaries, Frith- 
Sands & Co., WiuchcNter House, E.C. ; Ceylon 
Agents, Leechman Si Co., Colomix). 
KepoJt of the Directors to Imj presented to the 
thir<i annual general meeting of SharebolderK to 
be held on Monday, the lijth (lay of April :— 
The Directors be^ to submit to tlie Snareholderx 
the Halance Sheet and Prolit and Ix>hs Account 
for the year ending '.i\st December, IHWH. 
The Surplus show n is £17,700 17f» lod. from which 
falls to be deducted Debcntuiv Int*-ix*st amount- 
ing to i;l,«tK), leavinx a bidnnce of ilS.lWJ 17s lOd. 
An Interim Dividencl, free of Income Tax was paid 
in October, IKIS, of £C,(MI, being at the rate of 0 
per cent, jkt annum. It is now proposed to pay 
a final dividend free of Income Tax, at the same 
rate, making Oper cent, for the year, which will 
absorb a further sum of £(),0(JO. 
Of the Balance JtXJ.iXW 17s lOd, it is proposed to 
add £:JUO the SinkingFund, against the premium of 
£2,1(52 15s 2d. paid for L.ea.«ies, bringing; the total up 
to £1)(I0. To place the sum of £2,000 to the ciwlit 
of Estates Purchase Account, indudin}; deprecia- 
tion to Hist DecemlKir, 1898. and to carry for w jird 
the balance of £1,«09 of £17s lOd. 
The Crop of Tea from the Company s Estates 
amounted to 1,1.>J,480 lbs. which realised an aver- 
age nett price of y"21d. per lb. 
The average E.xchange for the year was 
ls4 3-l(5th d.— again.st Is 31i5-32ndd. in 1H97. The 
cost of pnxluction of the Tea crop and placing on 
Steamer at Colombo waso-Iitki. per lb. which in- 
cludes the rent of the Leased lands. 
During the year, for the purpose of more 
economical working, Kenmare Estate has been 
amalgamated partly with Park and partly with 
Portswood ; Lovers' Leap has been incorporated 
with Pedro ; and Hillside with .Concordia. The 
following Table shows results df the working of 
the Estates for last year. 
The poor showing of the Nahalma Company is 
altogether exceptional, being the result of a bad 
out-break of disease amongst the plants. Efforts 
are being pub forth to exterminate the trouble- 
some insect that causes the mischief, but appa- 
rently the immediate future is not very hopeful. 
The result for Burnside is an experience ol a new 
company, that earned a fair profit for the lirst 
eighteen months of its career, and then returns 
only a minute dividend to its shareholders. The 
Kelani Valley claims that the diminution in 
profit was entirely the result of the season, which 
led to a small crop. It is gratifying to find that 
this company put a fair sum to reserve in spite 
ef the considerable reduction in its distribution. 
The companies that fared better than in 1897 
have likewise been careful to add to their accumula- 
Not stated. 
a Balancu forward reduced to. this extent. 
b Debit balance, 
c For eighteen months, 
Estates. 
ft S-go 
cs ? §3 
Eh <; " 
Par- 
Full, tial. lbs. lb. d. £ s d 
Park ...242 22 144, 7&1 548 9-70 II 2 11 
Portswood .300 — 175,854 586 8-90 9 7 4 
Naseby ...125 66 80,096 419 8-27 3 5 1 
Pedro ...345 104 213,791 479 8-94 7 6 7 
Concordia... 217 121 184.689 546 10-30 11 6 8 
CourtLodge302 66 155,072 421 9-52 6 19 3 
Hethersett 367 25 199,214 508 8-63 7 4 6 
1,898 404 1,1.53,480 5011b 9-21d £8 7 6 
The yield from tea in full bearing was 545 lb« 
per acre, and from that in partial bearing 292 lb- 
which the Directors consider highly satisfactorj , 
the weather having been unfavourable for a great 
part of the season. The disappointing results 
from Naseby are due to the Estate having suf- 
fered more severely from frost than the other 
properties, thus reducing the crop very consider- 
