63° 
tME TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [March i, 1892. 
J^egard to the extension and expansion of the company's 
tea estates the general scope of the directors' policy 
had been directed to increasing the area of cultivation 
in high altitudes, and to acquiring estates of excep- 
tionally high quality. They thought they had so far 
been successful in carrying out that policy, and the 
purchases which they now asked the shareholders to 
sanction fulfilled those conditions. The highest 
price they had yet paid for an acre of tea-planted 
land was for the Yoxford, which was undoubtedly a 
very fine property, and well worth the £18,000 paid 
for it. It would easily give 15 per cent, on this 
outlay. Begelly was a small tea estate adjoining 
Tangakelly, which the owner found too small to 
work as a separate estate. It had been bought cheaply 
for £1,081, and would be a valuable addition to Tanga- 
kelly. He moved — " That the directors be authorised 
. to purchase or acquire from the owners thereof the fol- 
lowing estates in Ceylon : — Yoxford, containing 478 
acres; Glenlyon and Stair, 638 acres; and Begelly, 
48 acres, at prices not exceeding in the whole 
£38,581." — Mr. Rutherford seconded the resolution, 
which was carried. — The Chairman said he had now 
to invite their consideration and advice in a matter 
that the directors were in no way committed to, but 
which they thought well of. Mr. B. A. Talbot, their 
manager in Ceylon, who paid a visit to the Malay 
Feninsula in October last had come to the conclusion 
that the cultivation of coffee yielded results which 
would warrant them in extending their operations 
into that country. The reason the directors proposed 
this was that they thought there was money in it. 
There were difficulties to be encountered, and these 
were labour, supervision and unhealthiness of climate 
at the time of felling the forest, and the opening 
up ; but if these difficulties were successfiilly met and 
overcome he had no doubt that coffee planting in 
the Straits would be a financial success. With regard 
to the risk, he believed they would know in two years, 
with nearly absolute certainty, how it was going to 
answer, and the very worst that could happen would 
be to have £6,000 ba'lly invested. If it succeeded 
they would be in a splendid position to select the 
best land obtainable, and to develop a most remu- 
nerative industry. The whole of the last issue of pre- 
ference stock, £40,000, had been placed at a premium 
of 15 per cent., so they had £6,000 to start with, and 
they anticipated that this fund would supply all the 
cash required for their purpose. — Sir William 
Gregory said he regarded this proposal as a 
speculation alien to the original intentions of the 
company. The company was doing remarkably well, 
and it was but common sense to let well alone. Coffee 
had proved itself to be a dangerous article, and he 
thought they would be very ill-advised to touch it. — 
The Chairman pointed out that the memorandum of 
association gave them power to ciiltivate any pro- 
duct. But that was not the question. It was whether 
it would be a judicious thing to do, and he need not 
tell the shareholders that it would not be forced on 
them by weight of votes, but would be dropped if 
here was any considerable opposition to the scheme. 
They had not lost their confidence in Ceylon ; but 
this matter had been recommended very strongly to 
them by Mr. Tallwt who had had a long experience in 
coffee.— After some discussion the Chairman an- 
nounced that the directors had decided not to go 
further in the matter. They regretted it, but they 
wished to consult the wishes of even the smallest share- 
holders. He might mention before they adjourned 
that they had now a very fair idea of the report which 
the directors would )je able to make to them in April, 
and they believed it would realise all that was put 
forward by the directors in tlieir circular of June last, 
notwithstanding the very low range of tea ijrices. 
The estates were all doing well, and the young tea was 
coming on in a way that gave good promise for the 
future.— The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to 
the Cliairnian. 
Sir Wm. Gregory epoke to me about tl e meeting, 
the day before, and I oonourrcd in the Boundnoas 
of the view he adopted, tven though believing that 
there is a proaperous planting future before Perak 
(kud other atrjtitB tjellUmentSi 
CETLON TEA — EIB ABTHUR BIECH— SIK ANDREW CLAEK 
— MB, BLWOOD HAY, &C, 
Dec. 31st, 
Calling at the Eoyal Geographical Society the 
other day to see my friend Mr. Soott-Keltie, the 
accompliBhed Secretary, — of whose work, more anon, 
— I found myself, on leaving, oppoeite the Western 
Branch of the Bank of England and remembering 
that an ex Ceylon official is at its head, I ventured 
on a call. 8ir Arthur Birch, our former Lieut. - 
Governor (and ^ho certainly by this time would 
have been a first-clasa Governor had he remained 
in the service) received me very kindly and quickly 
ehowed that through his reading of the Overland 
Observer as well as many other channels, private 
as v,e\l as official, he keeps up a full interest in 
Ceylon affairs. He mentioned in fact that oid 
Ceylon friends frequently drop in to see him, and 
he has a personal inlerest in plantation property 
through tha New Dimbula Company ; and indeed 
the extraordinarily rapia increase in production of 
tea on Diagama gavb the text to a conversation 
full of interest bearing on the future of Ceylon. 
Sir Arthur thinks over-production of our staple and 
the ooDsequent lowering of prices to an un- 
profitable scale, is the one great danger before us ; 
and, of courbe, with the statistics of crop and 
export shewn for five years past, no one can 
gainsay this view. Unless Australasia and America 
come to the rescue by taking off larger quantities 
of Oeylon and Indian teas, consumption in the 
United Kingdom (and Continent of Europe), good and 
growing as it is, can scarcely meet the case. There 
is, ot course, the good hope that the China tea trade 
has got a heavy blow and sore discouragement this 
season; but it may recover. In reference to America 
Sir Arthur spoke iu high terms of tht, enierprise 
and (so f &r as fae could judge) the buBiness character 
of Mr, Elwood May, who he certainly thought 
was entitled to be regarded as a benefactor to the 
Ceylon tea enterprise, were it only for the persistent 
way in which he had advertised our staple in a 
country where advertising was the only certain way 
to establish a trade. He entirely agreed with the 
view that the planters ought to be much pleased 
(in place of dissatiBfied as a few at least of them 
seem to be) that Mr. May came forward to support 
and extend the Ceylon-American Company at a 
time when, under the old conditions, it was bound 
to collapse. The benefit to Ceylon of all that has 
taken place since is in the advertising — the making 
sections of the American people acquainted with 
our teas,— and this work is bound erelong to bear 
fruit ; for to judge by the files of American papers, 
circulars, pamphlets sent across by Mr. Elwood 
May, he is still indefatigable in his work of advertia- 
ing our staple. 
I drew Sir Arthur Birch's attention to the 
mischief Sir Andrew Clark had done by his 
ill-advised and utterly incorrect utterances on 
Ceylon and Indian vs. China teas before medical 
students in his latest hospital address. It was 
no doubt correoted in different ways at the time ; 
but Sir Andrew's reputation is high and his words 
continue to be most prominently placarded in the 
windows of China tea dealers, notably in Begent 
Street and other West End quarters, and once 
read their import sticks in the memory. In fact 
I have had personal experience of the fact only 
too often in going about. Sir Arthur Birch fully 
agreed— he had, in fact, intended speaking to Sir 
Andrew Clark, who ia a personal friend, on the 
subject. I pressed him to do so, and that if some 
Dimbula tea could be given Sir Andrew to try 
under the proper conditions of a smaller quantity 
to infuse at a time, than of China, he could not 
fail (0 change hie opinion. It woulcl ijndeed be 
