450 
THE. TROPICAL AQRIOULTURIST [January i, 1892. 
of it ia China to begin with, and the email amount of 
real Ceylon tea in it ia worth about 6(1 or 25 cents a 
pound in Colombo : in fact I can buy a better tea at 27 
cents in Colombo that will knock it clean ont." 
Messrs. Somerville & Co., to whom we referred for 
an opinion, report as follows : — 
■• Mark Batticola, description broken tea, London 
value 5d. Colombo equivalent at exchange Is 5d == tc 
20c. to21o. ftemarks— blackish, flaky, dusty broken tea. 
little leafy ; liquor thin common, with China shantam 
flavor. 
"■P. S. — From the taste of the liquor we are inclined 
to suspect a mixture of Ceylon and China tea (with a 
Jarger proportion of the latter), which however is dif 
ficult to trace in the dry leaf, as the tea is very broken 
•nd hardly a whole leaf perceptible. 
Infused Leaf. — Black." 
So much for the " pure" Battioola tea. The 
sellers deserve to be prosecuted. They seem to 
have been ashamed to put their name on the packet 
RUBY MINING COMPANY (LIMITED). 
Mr. Thomas Dickeon, chairman, presided at the half' 
ye»rly meeting of the shareholders, and explained that 
the object was simply to submit the directors' report 
on the working for the first eix months of the year 
No accounts were presented, as they were only ren- 
dered once in the twelvemonth. He might say he had 
nothing particularly encouraging to lay before them, 
or anything the reverse. The mine was one of the 
most peculiar in the world to deal with. If they found 
no ore they should be inclined to say they hai enough 
of it, and they would go on no further. But such was 
not the case. They were continually coming across 
pipes and veins of ore running ia all directions, and 
they were following these up, but they had not yet 
succeeded in finding the Bonanza which they were assured 
must exist somewhere. When the company wis re- 
constructed, they were told by their managers and 
■gents that it would be extremely unwise to abantJon 
the working without a farther trial. The trial they 
were now making, and they were finding a certain 
qnantity of ore, but not sufficient to make a dividend- 
pacing company. True, their mills were shut down 
but they were now sending their ore to Salt Lake City 
to be crushed, with rwsults fully as satisfactory as 
when they did the work themselves. Meanwhile their 
exploring was being well and economically done, and 
thay had the utmost confidence in their agents and 
officers. The report was aioptoA— Pall Mall Gazette, 
Nov. 4th. 
SCOTTISH TRUST AND LOAN COMPANY 
OF CEYLON, LIMITED. 
Keport of the Directors of the Scottish Trust and 
Loan Company of Ceylon, Limited, to the Pour- 
teenth Ordinary General Meeticg of shareholders, to 
be held within the Company's Registered Office, No. 
123 George Street. E'linbnrgh. on Monday, the 26th 
day of October 1891, at 3 o'clock p.m. 
The Directors present their Fourteenth Report, being 
for the year to 31st August 1891. 
Estates in Company's Pi Ssession — The year just 
closed has, as regards products, been the most success- 
ful in the history of the Company. The yield cf 
both Tea and Coffee has exceeded expectations, and 
the prices obtained in the London market have been 
Batisfaotory, It will be observed from the Balanca- 
Sheet that the value of Produce on hand at; 31st 
August last repre.ente l a sura of £6993 ; and 
the Directors have to state that this valuation is 
confirmed by sales which have actually taken place 
subsequent to that date. The prices obtained for 
Cinchona during the past year have been Bomcwhat 
diappoiuting. As in former years, (In whole cost 
ofl'ea cultivation has been charged ;i{ia,ii)st Revenue. 
On the Estate of Kaipoogala, the Tea Factory re- 
ferred to in last year's Keport has been ereo((!d atdo 
cost '.f £1760, and there has been oxpan }qsded one 
Factories at Annfield and Alnwick sums amounting 
to ilOOO. The Directors propose to write off, av 
formerly, one-fifth of the total expenditure upon 
this account. The operations daring the year at these 
Factories have been satisfactory, and a large quantity 
of leaf has been treated. 
The Directors have further to report under this 
nead that during the jeir they entered upon nego- 
tiations with the Ceylon Plantations Company for the 
sale of Ardallie, one of the estate? beloneing to this 
Company. These negotiations ended in the acceptance 
by the Directors of an offer of £7,000 for the estate 
as it stood at 1st April 1891. 
MORTOAGES HELD IN CEYLON BT THE CoMPAN?.— 
This Account in the Balance-sheet shows a consider- 
able reduction as compared with the amount due at 
31st August 1890. The sum of £3,000 referred 
to in last year's Report as a loss on Loans, has 
been written off, and sums amounting to £4,0'J5, 
163 8d have been received from sundry Bor- 
rowers in rednclioa of and payment of Mortgages, 
"The Company doe? not now bold any Rupee Loans 
The interest on all Mortgages has during the year been 
paid with regularity, and the Directors have pleasure 
in recording that at the close of the financial year no 
interest was in arrear upan any of the Company's 
Loans. During the current year, the Mortgage Debt 
due to the Company will be further reduced 
Debenture Debt.— The liability of the Oompjny 
under Debentures has, during the year just closed, been 
reduced by a further sum of £6,1-55. which represents a 
oonsiderab'.e saving in interest. At the ensuing terms 
of Martinmas, 1891, and Whitsunday. 1892, the Direc- 
tors will be in a position to pay ofiE the whole Deben- 
tures then fal liner due. 
Acco"NTs,— The balance at the credit of Profit and 
Loss Account is .. .. .,£7 705 0 9 
and the Directors proposes — ' 
To pay a Dividend of 5 per 
cent, free of Income Tax . .£2,250 0 0 
To pay a Bonus of 5 per 
cent, do £2,250 0 0 
To transfer to Reserve 
Fund £1,000 0 0 
— ■ £5,500 0 0 
Thus leaving ..£2,205 6 9 
to be carried forward to next account. 
The Dividend and Bonus will be payable on , Uth 
November next. 
Under the rotation fixed by the Directors, Mr. 
Henry Johnston, Advocate, retires from office at this 
Meeting ; but he is eligible for re-eloction in terms 
of Section 14 of Articles of Association. 
The Auditor for the current year falls to be 
appointed. 
By order of the Board, Feancis A. Beingloe, 
Secretary. 
Edinburgh, 19th October 1891. 
GEIMMING AND MINING COMPANY. 
(From the Dwarf, Nov. 3.) 
I should much doubt, after the collapse of the Bur- 
mah Ruby Mines, Limitel, which was brought out 
und^r the auspices of Mr. Streater, whether the Sap. 
phire and Ruby Mines of Montana will be readily 
subscribed for even by our gullible British public. It 
is well-known that Tiffany, the eminent New York 
jeweller, has not formed a very high opinion of the 
value of Montana stones, and refused to purchase the 
property or to assist in bringing it out as a Limited 
Company. If the ground ia so valuable it is extremely 
unlikely that Cousin Jonathan would have allowed it 
to go begging in London. 
I hear that Streeter will shortly be askel to bring 
out yet another sapphire mine, this time in Cashmere ; 
aud tbo fact that Colonel Parry Nisbet's name appears 
on the list of Founders of the Montana Company, 
rather strengthens me in my belief in the rumour. 
Recently some very valuable finds of aapphirea have 
been made in Cashmere, aud experts are now in- 
specting the supposed site of the mines. 
