March i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
617 
ecpnteci flo'^'erB. Some very correct people with inscon- 
rate idfasol its etymology have civilised gilljflowcr into 
" July flower." 
The "clove" of garic, &o. is traceable to the old 
Teutonic words which give us cleave, clove, cleft, ond 
IB applied on account of "he separated condition of the 
fruit. 
How " clove," an old weight of wool and cheese 
(—about 7 or 8 lb. avoirdupois), came to be arlopted 
is not known. It is unilerstood to be derived from the 
Latin clavus, a nail, which was al^o under that name 
a lineal measure iu olden time. The connection be- 
tween the nail (moasu/ e) and the clove (weight) seems 
to be lost. 
OocA is theSp'i'iish form of the Peruvian Ciica. Its 
first mention in English literature is found in Ballokar 
in 1616. 
CoccDLU i (as in Cocculus Indicus) ia merely a Latin 
word siiinifyins a little berry. 
Cochineal comes via tlin Bp.inish cochiniUa from 
the It;iliaii coccinigha traceable to the Litiii coccineus 
BCsrlat coloured. In SpauiHh the same word, a dimi- 
nutive of c.odiiiia, sow, is nsed as the name of the 
wood-louse, and has bte;i 8Uf;;;es!ed aa iho origin of 
cochineal. But the two words appear to be only for- 
tuitou«ly similar and lave entirc'y distinct origins. 
CuCOA and Cocoa nut have < coisioned no end of 
confnfion anions uninstiucted poople. Ouon (the 
" f»rii,toful and comforting " article obtained from the 
seeds of the Theohroma cacao) is a corruption of the 
three-syllaHled »vord ■' c '.-oa-o," which was the Spanioh 
fidaptation of the Mexicin name for the feeda cacauatl. 
The couo-nut was, and shouM he still, written "coco." 
It was 80 called hy the Portugnase when they dis- 
covered it in ludia, whore it was called in the native 
langu.ige tegma or tcnga Coco ia a Poftu^uesG word 
for grin or grimace, and was probably used in refer- 
<i>ice to the qucor-fac; -like r'.ppenraiica of the baeo of 
the shell with its throe holes.* It ii worthy of note 
chat in Johnson's Dioliooary the article "Coco" 
WHS run together witli tli it on " Coooa," apparently 
by an aooidenc, for Johnson himself used the word 
"Coco" (pluril Cocoes) in his other writings. This 
accident is probaVdy to fome extent the csu!<e of the 
confusion whxh has prevailed b'itween the tuo words. 
Coffee is the descendant of a Tiirkiah word qahvah, 
wbich was applied not to the berry but to the beverage, 
and is believfd to have origin.^lly meant some sort of 
wine, Rud to have beeji derived from a verb which meant 
to have no nppetite. 
OoMMEucB tjegJin to be fubstituted for "morchandiBe" 
in the hitter part of the sixteenth century. It is 
conipo.'ied ot com, with, and mow, merci, wares. For 
more than a century tho word was scoeuted on ihe 
second syllable, as in Watts'a line (1709), " I hold no 
more oommerre with Hell." 
OojiPETB and Competitor are among those words of 
which the original sense has been modified by human 
tendencies. The etymological uiesning, and no doubt 
the early use of the words, implied a seeking in com- 
pany, a sort of partnership. The uiiion developes into 
rivalry, the rivalry into opposition, which ia more like 
tho modern signification. 
OONGou, as applied to tea, is a corruption of the 
Chiuefe word Kuiit/-fii, work. It means tea on which 
work or labour has baen expended. — Clicmisi and Druj- 
ijiKl, Deo. 2G. 
THE CEYLON LAND AND PRODUCE 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
R port of the Directors to be submitted to the 
Sev.-n'h Autiual General Me' ting of Shareholders to 
be hold in Room 117 (Ut Floor), L^adotihall- House, 
101, Jji'adcnliull street, in tliu City of I,oiu!on, on the 
3l8* liay of Dcctnihrr, 181)1, at 12 o'c'ock noon. 
Yonr Directors Ik;.; t > submit tho ami- xed profit 
and losH account and balance 'beet lor tho year end- 
irjg ;!Otn Jure, IS'Jl, duly nu Uled. 
Too ( nj'.iuit at cro it of prolit and lois aocouut, 
aft.'r deducting depreciation of machinery and buildings 
on New Peradenija, Fettereaao, and Hiokorton estates 
(1,000), and writing off £8,033 10s 8d fr- m the Maiale 
properties referred to below, is £;3,(J69 (js 6d which 
with the Bum brought forward from lant year 
£2,308 7s 4d leaves, £5,377 13s lOd to be dealt with. 
Your Directors propose to pay on the 30th day of 
January, 1892, the fix d Cumulative dividend of 0 
l)er cent on the preference shares, and 10 per cent on 
the ordinary share.s, both leas income tax, and to 
carry forward the balance, £1,693 3a lOd subject to 
the Directors' remuneration for the year under re- 
view, to be fixed at the general meeting, and to the 
payment of income tax. 
Your Directors' earnest consideration has been given 
to the question of the capital value of the Matale 
Estates aa they stand la the books. In the report 
for year ending 30th June, 1889, it wan stated by 
your then directors that the expectations on which 
the Company's Cocoa Estates were acquired had not 
up to that time been fulfilled, and in the amended 
report for same period your Board expressed the 
belief ihit that was partly owing to the unprece- 
dented drought that occurred early iu the history of 
this Company. They have now, however, come to the 
eouclnsioii that o shnnkage has occurred in their 
original value, and th y consider this to be an ex- 
tremely favourable opportunity for re-arrnnging the 
figures. They have therefore written off from profits 
tho sum of £8,033 10s 81, and applied the same in 
reduction of the book valnes of the lUtale Eitatea- 
Iu efifectiog thin r, duotion your Direotora anticipate 
Ihe shareholders' oo-operation and consent. 
The past year has been a favourable one for the 
Company, the satisfactory result ot wbich is largely 
owing to the exceptionally high prices which prevailed 
and were obtained loth for coooa and coffer. 
It is gratifying to your Directors to report thst 
the average prices for Ceylon cocoa during the 
year have been on a higher scale than formerly 
and where the coring has been carefully attended 
to, extreme values have been obtained ; the pro- 
duction, however, in the island doe* not appear to 
extend very rapidly, 
A new feature however has been developed, in the 
increased output of Java siuce 1886, during the last 
two ye^rs particularly so, and the rapid strides made 
m the improved curing has rasdo this growth a strong 
competitor which yonr Dire.-tors thitik will be fait 
Tho demand continues good, aud it is iioteivorthy that 
n j stock of Ceylon is on hand, piroeh going imme- 
diately into consumption after fale, which of coarse 
adds strength to the p laition. 
AVith regard to coffee it is pie sing to yonr Direotora 
that they can report that prices during the whole 
of the year have been of an eminently satisfactory 
character. The ptire-i for the article have continued 
high smoo 1886, and althonga consnniption does not 
appeir to have been materially affected, the prodnc- 
tion has been atimiilatod, and the world's supply will 
prub.ibly bo considerably increased in the near future 
Your Directors therefore entioipate a lower range of 
prices, but they look forward with confidence, that 
those for Ceylon will be still ramunora'ive. 
The Company's Teas have also shown a profit- 
able rcsnlt, bnt your Directors view with some c on- 
cern, and indeed it haa been pointed out by various 
authontioB, that the planting of this product is beinz 
overdone in Ceylon ; they h!^ve therefore instrnctcd 
the Company's IVIauagers to coaso pkntiug tea on 
aoy extensive scale, and 1 avo directed thera to give 
'heir Rttor.tion to the introduction of coffee, cooon 
and o! her and minor products on any ot the Company 'i 
land suitable for their grovvth. 
The yorvr 1891 opened with a strong market for 
Oeyl n tes, tho av-n.ge pric« at the public sales in 
Jannary being lljd per lb, No material decline took 
plnce until April wh. u arrivals increased, and in cou- 
eequenco ol ur.uanally he,'.vy flushes, the quality 
shosved a n.arkod falling- olT, while, in many cases, 
the dry le^if cvidtn-ed hurried preparation. Mainly 
owing to these causes prices became weaker, and the 
(jeiiecil av.iagc for the pnst fix months to the end 
ot November has ruled at abou; 9,',d per lb. Lower 
rates have, however, no doubt benefited tho industry 
