770 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[May 2, 1904, 
palm is nob as plentiful in Pondicherry as it is in 
Ceylon, and I cannot understand why this oil 
cannot be manufactured here. 
Ceylon ia a large and growing market, and 
there is much to attract the British manufacturer 
and merchant^ but f find the same apathy here as 
I have found throughout the East. To every 
British commercial traveller I have seen there are 
'at least ten Germans. More than half the British 
travellers are wliat are known as "commission 
men," men who represent a whole heap of manu- 
facturers, and have not a working acquaintance 
with any single line of goods they sell. Granting 
that the sending out of travellers to the East is 
expensive, is it not better to incur the expense to 
improve the trade than to lose the trade altogether 
by abandoning the field to the German 2 A good 
many manufacturers want their work done on 
commission, as I have seen from the accounts of 
men out here, but this must be a most unsatis- 
factory way of working. What I would suggest 
is that a number of manufacturers in kindred but 
non-competing lines should combine, get a really 
good man, equip him with a complete set of 
samples, pay him a reasonable salary and expen 
ses, and put him on the road. To do his work 
thoroughly a -man would require at least eighteen 
months or two years in which to cover the whole 
of the East — India, Burma, Ceylon, Straits, 
China, Japan, &c. Metals and engineering re- 
quisites could be worked together ; drapery and 
fancy goods, crockery, lamps, and household 
necessaries, &c. The East does not offer scope 
enough for the "one line" man, except it be drapery. 
Then, again, it would be almost next to useless for 
such a man to be sent out just for one trip. The 
same man must be kept as long as possible on the 
ground, so that he gets to know his customers. 
Most men are lost during the first trip, and someof 
the towns take a deal of learning. I offer these 
suggestions because I see that we are losing ground 
everywhere in the East, solely because our mer- 
chants and manufacturers are not cultivating these 
markets in the manner the Germans are doing. 
It is true there are exceptions, and I know of some 
British firms doing an enormous trade in the Orient, 
but they cultivaie it, by having a representative 
regularly visiting their customers. Such firms, 
for instance, as Crosse and Blackwell, Huntley and 
Palmer, Nettlefold, Burgoyne, Burbidge. and a 
few others I could name, have men on the Eastern 
ground who are personally known to every dealer. 
What is the result? Their "goods are everywhere, 
and Germans, Americans or even Britishers cannot 
make any impression on their business. 
In one respect Ceylon offers a very striking 
contrast to Singapore, Hongkong or Shanghai. 
One does not find here the pessimism that is so 
prevalent fartlier East. The British— or should I 
say Scotch ?— planters and merchants appear to be 
made of sterner stuff in Ceylon. In support of this 
one has only to look at the way the island recovered 
after the coffee blight. Farther East foreign com- 
petition seems to have frightened our nationals ; 
but here the foreigner, though vvelcomed, is not 
allowed to monopolise everything. One is never in 
doubt here as to whether he is in a British colony 
or not, as ia the case in Singapore. Perhaps it is 
that the Britisher in Ceylon pays more attention 
to his business than his countryman farther East, 
and sticks more to his ofSce and less to the club. 
Another cause may be that the Englishman — or, 
rather, Scotchman — in Ceylon more often makes 
the island his home, It is quite a common occur- 
rence to meet men who have been in Ceylon twenty 
and thirty years, men whose fortunes are tied up 
with the Colony, who give their best years and their 
best efforts to bring out the best of the country. A 
man is said to bs blessed vvho makes two blades of 
grass grow where one grew before. The Britisher 
in Ceylon must be blessed many times over for 
establishing so many industries in the island where 
none existed before. So far as I can see, there are 
only two things that don't agree with the digestion 
of ihe Ceylon planter and the Ceylon merchant — 
the tea duty and the tea "bosses" of Mincing 
Lane. In conclusion, 1 would say to all who want 
to know what Ceylon is and what she produces, 
" Go and visit the Ceylon section at the St Louis 
Exhibition." 
YATIYANTOTA CEYLON TEA CO., LTD. 
Directors :— Messrs. A Thomson (Chairman), 
Charles Young and J M Skinner. 
REPORT OP THE DIRECTORS. 
The Directors have now the pleasure to submit the 
duly audited aecounts of the Company for the year 
ended Slst December, 1903. Owing to unfavourable 
weather, the crops secured fell short, to some extent, 
of expectations formed at the commencement oj the 
season, but in consequence of a heavier yield from the 
younger fields the total crops were slightly in excess 
of those of 1902. From the 2,990 acres plucked last 
year, crops amounting to 1,462,888 lb were secured, 
irrespective of 3,500 lb [made from purchased green 
leaf. Of the total 423,178 lb were sold in Colombo, and 
1,043,210 lb were shipped to London, the whole real- 
ising a net average of 5'64cl per lb. The average rate 
of exchange for the year was Is 4 5-32d per rupee, and 
the sterling cost of the crops f.o.b. (or delivered to 
buyers in Colombo) was 3"46d per lb. 
The following is a comparative statement of the 
past three years' working : — 
B a cS 
ei3 ^ IS u 
a 
(D 
1^ ^ A. 
K ana) 
m to 
_ a< c3 S ft 
Sc<u ^.a g 
ft 
0) 
ft t£u 
o a a> 
o <o 
lb lb s d d d 
1901 2,970 1,261,484 425 1 4 7-32 3-83 5-10 
1902 2,982 1,4.84 496 481 1 4 3 16 3 37 4-84 
1903 2,990 1,462,888 489 1 4 5 32 3 46 6-64 
An interesting though small, item of revenue in the 
accounts now submitted, is the proceeds of 143 lb of 
RUBBER, the result of a first tapping of about 650 trees 
On the Company's estates there are in all about 5,000 
well established rubber trees, the remainder of which 
are expected, during the next two ye<ars, to gradually 
add to the number yielding produce. The extension 
of this cultivation has been receiving attention during 
the past two years, but the planting has only been 
partially successful. The improved returns of the past 
year are due almost entirely to the better market 
for tea. 
The net profit for the year amounts to £12,712 Is 
lid, to which has to be added balance from 1902 ac- 
count £2,029 8s 6d, together ^^14,741 lOs 5d. 
Dividends have been paid as follows r — On the Pre- 
ference Shares at 6 per cent per annum — on 1st July 
1903, and 1st January, 1904 £2,700, on the ordinary 
shares on 12th October, 1903 an interim dividend of 
3 per cent £2,700.— Total £5,400 ; Leaving now to be 
dealt with £9,341 IDs 5d. 
This the Directors propose to appropriate as follows : 
— (1) In payment of a final dividend on the ordinary 
capital of 6 per cent, making in all 9 per cent for the 
year, free of Income Tax £5,400, (2) In writing o£^ 
