JuLV 1, 1901.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
49 
OUVAH COFFEE COMPANY, LIMITED. 
REPORT 
To be presented to the Sixth Ordinary General 
Meeting of the Company, to be held at No. 5, Dow- 
gate Hill, London, on Tuesday, the I4th day of May, 
1901, at 12 o'clock noon. 
The folloTring annual account* are now presented 
to Shareholders, Tiz. : — 
Balance sheet made up to Slat December, 1900. 
Profit and loss account for the year ended Slst 
December, 1900. 
The receipts from the sale of produce were as 
nnder — 
Tea from the Company's 
own Estate 1,114,513 lb. 
Tea made from bought 
leaf 161,035 do 
£ 8 a 
Total 1,275,548 do »4,023 13 8 
Coffee 478 cwts. 3 qrs. 5 lb. . . 1,861 7 3 
Cocoa 56 cwts. 2 qrs. 17 lb., estimated 
value ... 150 0 0 
Cinchona 22,609 lb., estimated value . . 100 0 U 
Plumbago 554 cwts. 3 qrs. 8 lb. . . 394 18 8 
Sundry sales in Ceylon .. 99 19 7 
Total receipts ... £36,629 19 2 
The total expenditure in Ceylon and London 
amounted to £28,908 3s 4d, and deducting this from 
the value of the produce a profit is shown of £7,721 
15s lOd, to which has to be added the balance of 
£224 lis 9d, brought forward from the previous year, 
making a total of £7,946 7s 7d at the credit of Profit 
and Loss, From the above sum the Directors have 
transferred to the credit of Badnlla Factory Account 
£1,000. The interim dividend of 2 J per cent., paid 
on 15th November, 1900, absorbed £2,500, and 
Income Tax £241 2s 3d, leaving a balance of £4,205 
58 4d, out of which it is proposed to pay a further 
dividend of 3J per cent, making 6 per cent, for the 
year, and to carry forward to next account the sum 
of JE705 6s 4d. 
Favourable weather was experienced during the 
past year, and the yield of tea per acre was 602 lb. as 
against 404 lb. and 438 lb obtained during the two 
preceding years. The tea market, on the other hand, 
has been over-supplied, and our average selling price 
dropped to 6'40d against 7'56<£ at which the previous 
17 months' crop sold. The lower cost of production, 
brought about by the increased yield, has however to 
soma extent compensated ns for the fall in the value 
of our produce. The returns from cotfee, cocoa and 
cinchona diminish as these products are replaced by 
tea. A heavy fall has taken place in the value of 
plumbago, and for this reason mining has not been 
actively pushed during the past year. Operations 
have been chiefly directed towards proving the ex- 
tent and value of the deposits. If a sufficient 
body of mineral is proved to exist, it could be 
mined profitably at present prices with the aid of 
modern appliances. All the Company's properties 
are reported to be in excellent condition and promis- 
ing well for the future. 
The acreage of the Company's property is now as 
follows : — 
acres. 
Tea, over 5 years old 1,775 
do Planted Nov.-Dec. 1896 151 
do do 1897 133 
do do 1898 23 
* do do 1899 18 
do do 1900 40 
Area under Tea 2,140 
Area under Coffee and Cocoa 386 
Area under Fuel 336 
Forest, Patana and Waste 713 
Mr. L Pamin, a member of the Board, retires on 
this occasion, and, being eligible, offers himself for 
re-election. 
Messrs. Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co., the 
Auditors, also offer themselves for re-election. 
By order, J. Alec Robeets, Secretary. 
London, 3rd May, 1901, 
THE DIMBULA VALLEY (CEYLON) TEA 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
REPORT 
To be submitted to the Shareholders at the Fifth 
Annual Ordinary General Meeting, to be held at the 
Cannon Street Hotel, on Wednesday, 8th May, 1901 
at 12 o'clock noon. ' 
The Directors, in accordance with the intimation 
given at the general meeting on the 25th June last, 
that the accounts would henceforth be made up as at 
31st December, instead of 31st March, beg to submit 
the General Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss 
Account for the nine months ending 3l8t December 
Xft8E« 
After bringing forward £1,987 13s 7d from las 
account, and providing for general expenses, London 
expenses. Superintendents' commissions 
and £380 8d for depreciation, the net amoun 
at credit of profit and loss acconut for the nine months 
ending 31st December last is £13,293 9s. 
A dividend of S per cent., less income 
tax, has been paid for six months on 
the preference shares, amounting to £1,720 1 0 
An interim dividend of S per cent,, less 
income tax, has been paid on the ordi- 
nary shares, and amounts to 3,439 19 0 
It is proposed to pay a final dividend of 
4| per cent, on the ordinary shares, 
making 7§ per cent, for the nine 
months, or at the rate of 10 per cent, 
per annum, absorbing a further sum of 5,159 18 6 
It is proposed to carry to reserve fund 
a sum of 1 000 0 0 
Leaving to be carried forward 1,973 iq g 
Total Areas 3,575 acres 
£13,293 9 0 
The crop amounted to 803,672 lb. to 31st December. 
To enable Shareholders to judge how the 12 
months would have worked out, had the year closed 
on the Slst March as heretofore, it may be stated 
that the yield for January, February, and March 
has been 315,000 lb., thus giving a total of 1,118,672 lb 
against 1,079,829 lb., for the previous 12 months, or 
an increase of 38,843 lb. 
The cost of cultivation and placing the crop on 
board ship was 26-97 cents, against 25 77 cents the 
previous year. It must, however, be explained that 
the reason for the somewhat higher cost is that 
all expenses connected with the culture of the tea 
fields fell upon a nine instead of a twelve-months' 
season. January, February, and March teas, having 
to bear only the cost of management, plucking, 
weeding, and manufacture, would have brought 
down the cost well under last year's. 
The total crop, including 50 owt. coffee, realised 
£27,405 18s 8d, or an average, for the tea, of 8*98d 
against 9'40d last year and 10-09d for the previous 
season. 
The Directors regret losing the services of Mr. 
Melville White as Manager in Oeylon, owing to his 
retirement from the Colony. He has been succeeded 
by Mr Herbert Sinclair, a gentleman holding a 
large interest in the Company, and who has been 
in its employ since its inception. 
