March i, 1892.] 
THE TROPSCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
619 
THE CEYLON TOBACCO COMPANY LIMITED. 
It is only rigbt that all Ihe ciroumslances con- 
nected with the enterprise so named should be known. 
The main point is that the bulk o£ the _ capital 
of the Company was invested in land, which cost 
some ESl.OOO, or nearly hftlf the capital of the 
C omdany, which was about R220,000. When after 
two years' experience tobacco was found to be not 
only uncertain in growth, but abo difficult of sale, 
it was deoirfed at once to cpeu with other pro- 
ducts ; and had the ehareholJcrs all paid their calls, 
the directors would have bpen abla to go on for 
another 18 months, by which time 120 acres of 
tea would have been in parlial bearing, and the 
oaoao, Liberian coffee, and coconuts so advanced 
as to render it easy to finance the Company. The 
money was not by any means all spent. When it 
was decided to voluntarily wind up, the assefs were 
some B2o,000 of unpaid cal's, or rather more 
than the equivalent of a year's working ; and 
some 60,000 lb. of tobacco, which it is hoped will 
realize at least 20 cents per pound averpge. ^ o 
far, we believe, none bus fetched less than 
27 cents, but it can only be sold in small 
quantities, say E12.000 as the value of the 
tobacco. In addition to this the Company 
has all its lands, which are some of the finest in 
Ceylon. Of course all concerned knew that tobacco 
was a groat speculation and that the Company 
have lost on it goes without eaying ; but it is con- 
tended that the directors did the best they cou'd 
in the interest of the Company in commencing to 
plant other products with a view to selling the 
properties. Messis. T. N. Christie, Armstrong, 
Owen, Hill, &c. were all shrewd, hard-working 
honest men doicg their best without pay or re- 
muneration for the Company as directors ; and 
the fact that at a large meeting two of the directors 
were unanimously (with the exception of iVlr. 
Borron, who left the room) put on the consulting 
board to assist the Liquidator shows that they 
still retain the confidence of the shareholders. 
It gives us much pleasure on public as well as 
private grounds to slate these facts : and we shall be 
only too glad to learn that the valuable lands and 
cultivation possessed by the Company will realiise 
prices which may enable the accounts to be cloeed 
without loss to any of the shareliolders. It was 
really the refusal of so many cf these to pay their 
calls, we believe, which compelled the directors to 
decide on liquidation. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE. 
Daejeeling Tea — Mcssrp. Lloyd end Carter report 
that nuctiona have been lighter during the past month, 
and thin, coupled witli a very low range of prices, 
has enabled buyers to operate with more confidence, 
and all grades have bcnn taken at a slight advauco. 
The deliveries aud etucks can hardly be considered 
Batisfactcry, but with continued low quotations, there 
should be increased coneumption. The bett averages 
have been made by M L B over M K In cross Poobong 
Goomtee, Selimbong aud Hope Town, but some very 
choice teas have been sold from OhBinOiig ; the Orange 
Pekoe at Ss 7d, Broken Orange Pekoo at 3s lid, and 
Pt koe at 2 s 4d. 
IjAst Week's Tka Sales.— On Monday the public 
sali^" of III lian tea, eaya ihe Grocer, amoonted to 
20,520 packages, when liotwitbstRiiding the foggy wpa- 
tber iiud the near Rppionoti of the holidays, there 
was a fitoidy di-iniind, aud the above qiianiity was 
taken off at full rates, eaponially for the bo«t liquoring 
kinds. Ceylon lea. — A very dense smoke and fog 
euTtloped the Oily on Tuesday, when 10,450 packages 
cf Oeylon t a woro elferpd, but Ihn denymd proved 
good, and full prices wiro olitained. Ai^ occasional 
irregularity was apparent, while the eoiall breaks were 
extremely slow sale. Sales will now he euspendrid 
until the New Year, and the trnde wili be heartily 
glad of tho iutervftl, so the nnmber of samples tasted 
for menths pntt has been remarkable. 
" A liANK AND Astringent Decoction."— In a beok 
entitled "Delicate Dining," Mr. Theodore Child, the 
well-known American writer, saj?: — "In a freat coun- 
try bke Kuglnnd it is imposfible to obtain really well- 
made coffee, except in a few private houses, while 
E' glish tea is generally a rank and astringent de- 
coction, instead of a delicate infueion." Tliis may be 
true; but, at leas*', wo have the coiiso'ation that in 
the matter of tea-making we can give Mr. Child's 
countrymen and women some points. But wo Wts- 
lerns have much to learn from the Chinese and 
Japanese as to the art of infusing tea. If the British 
itatron and her family were to drink tea as often as 
tlie light-hearted Japanese do, the result would not 
be conducive to the comfort of tho said matron and 
family. To materially increase the coufiuraption of 
tea some method of infusion akin to the Eastern is 
neceesaiy. Mr. Child is right. Stewed tea is a "rank 
and astringent decoction." L<:t us, by all meane, 
adept a better metboJ of infusing, and tea may be 
taken at all times without injury. It is not urged 
against the Japanese or the Chinese that they take 
too much tea, and ytt they are for ever drinking it. 
They are not accused of being viotima to dyspepsia 
either ; and when our learned physicians wish to point 
a moral tbey do not go to the Far East, but maintain 
that we who drink tea far le^s frequently than the 
peoples of China and Japan are ruining our digestions 
in consequetce. One would almost think thtii soien- 
titio opinion, far fiom being on the side of the angels, 
was on the side of the brewerc. 
The AnuLTEKATKiN Recokd. — The record of the 
year's aoulu ration with the Loudon area shows that 
tea is the o;^ ly article of produce which has a clean 
bill of health. Coffee continues to be adulterated 
freely. Chicory is invariably the foreign substance, 
and the pioportion used is often enormous. The cocoa 
drinkers will not appreciaie the fact that their 
favourite beverage is the chief subject of adulteration, 
no less than a tliird of the ninety-bix eamples analysed 
having been condemned. lu many instances the 
amount of sugar, starch, «nd arrowroot added was so 
consi lerable that the nutritive value of the quantity 
of cocoa used for making a cupful must be infinitesimal 
After a good many years, in which the adulteration- 
of sugar had apparently ceased, it has again coma 
under notice in a curious form. Of 246 samples ex- 
amiccf, nearly one-seventh were reported as having 
been coloured with au aniline dye ot an amber tint in 
order to make white crystals of btet sugar imit ite 
tho more vjluabic Demerara. The quantity of the dvo 
used, however, is very minute. The fol'owing fignr'ea 
show the number of samples examined during the 
year, and the percentage of cases in which adnlteraioa 
was reported :— Coffee : 1,733 ; adulterated, 266 ; per- 
centage in 1889, 14 9 ; ditto, 1890, IS S. Sugar : 246 
adulerated, 34; percentage iu 1890, 13-8. Pepper: 
1,329; adulterated, 75 ; percentage in 1889, 8 9; ditto 
1 890, 5 6. Tea : 349 ; Hdulteratcd, 0 ; percentage in 
1889, 0 5 ; ditto, 1890, 0. 
Banana Cultivation. — Discusting the banana, the 
Horticultural 7'i'nes says; — "At present the fine- 
flavoured bauauaa are almost unknown in Europe ; 
Dot because their excellence is unappreciated, but 
simply because the fruit is of necessity too long by 
tie way to reach those countries in a marketable con- 
diliou. S j it comes that two lines of inventions having 
to do with bsnai a culture are sorely needed in the West 
Indies, where wiih them the banana output would 
seon be doubled, and in time might eafily be 
multiplied teulold. These are a desiccating process 
aud a Hour of meal-making process. The former 
is at present most lu demand, and wherever one 
travels iu the banana-pruducing regions, from 
Demirnra to British Honduras, from Colon to 
Samana Bay, tha cry will be heard at every large 
plantation, " Oh ! it someone would only invent 
and perfect a drying or prcerving prooofs that 
could be depouded ou," Thu taau or meu whg caq 
