April i, i8qi,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
log 
THE CEYLON SPINNING AND WEAVING 
COMPANY, LD. 
It has been a subject of considerable surprise to us 
that in view of the very satisfactory Report given by 
the Directors at the recent shareholders’ meeting, the 
credit of this Company should be rated so low as it is 
in our local shares market. The explanation given to 
us of ElOO paid-up shares being quoted at E80 
or less, is that the Chetty shareholders are some- 
times very impatient of any delay in getting a 
return on their money. They are accustomed to 
turn over their capital very quickly in their rice 
and cotton goods' ventures and do not at all like 
to have any portion locked up for a long in- 
terval; If this be the fact, it is evident that 
Chetty capitalists are scarcely the society from 
whom support for Limited Companies can be sought ; 
for there must, even with the most promising, if not 
successful. Company, always be a preliminary interval 
to allow of the needful testing and earnings before 
dividends can be declared. We have been anxious 
to get the opinion of an outside authority on 
the Report and balance-sheet af the Company, 
and have been successful in inducing a gentle- 
man of experience in no way connected with 
the Company, to put his pen to paper. The 
following then is the opinion of an impartial 
and experienced observer of the Report and work 
done by the Company’s mills as recorded at the 
recent meeting of shareholders : — 
“ I have no practical acquaintance with cotton 
mills in the East ; and since my day everything at 
Home has undergone a complete change. Still 
as you ask me for my candid opinion of the 
prospects of the Colombo Mills just opened only, 
I have no hesitation in stating that it is an 
exceedingly favourable one. The Report and state- 
ment of accounts appear to me to be both 
straightforward and satisfactory ; and I have no 
doubt that ere many years are passed the Company’s 
operations will be on a far more extended scale 
than they are at present. The climate is everything 
to a spinning concern. It must be about twelve 
years ago I pointed out this great advantage of climate 
possessed by Colombo over India, and I was 
then urged to interview the late Messrs. De Soysa, 
Jusey de Silva and other wealthy and influential 
Sinhalese and endeavour to get a mill started on 
the lines of those at Madras. My idea then was 
to locate the mill near to Cotta, where a working 
population at very cheap rates could, I thought, 
be counted upon to a certainty. But the mill now 
erected has secured a better locality, for it has 
the advantages of both canal and rail, the former 
at its very doors and the latter nearly so. There 
have also been in the interval of twelve years 
extensive improvements in engines and boilers and 
spinning and weaving machinery generally. The 
Colombo mill has been able to avail itself of aW these, 
and is therefore better off in this respect than 
the majority of Indian mills, the bulk of which, 
however, are nevertheless doing a profitable business, 
weighted though they are with heavy commissions, 
&c. The opening up of Colombo into a great port 
with steam communication constantly available to 
all parts of the world is also another great 
advantage, for the mill, in its operations, is not 
limited to simirly a local demand, very often more 
than over-supplied, owing to keen competition by 
the production of Lancashire factories, 
“ The dyeing department ought to be a profitable 
one now-a-days, thanks to the splendid colors now 
shipped at cheap rates from Germany and the very 
simple manner in which they can bo used, even 
alter only a lesson or two, by natives without 
European supervision, In tiipe, no ^oubt, a largo 
business will be done in cleansing and redyeing 
articles of apparel generally ; collecting sgencies on 
the Perth (Scotland) principle being distributed over 
the lines of island railways if not even established 
at some of the adjacent Indian ports. To emphasize 
what I say on this head, look up Indian Customs 
House return and give the figures for values of 
Dyestuffs imported from Europe during past live 
years — the increase is astounding I believe. In 
Bombay the trade has developed enormously — why 
not in Ceylon ?" 
In accordance with the request of our correspon- 
dent, we append the figures for comparative imports 
of dyes for nine months of each of the past three 
years, namely, — 
Dyeing and Tanning Mateeials. 
Nino Months, 1st April to 31st December. 
1888. ■ 1889. 1890. 
Aniline and alizarine 
0Z8. 
028. 
ozs. 
dyes 
28,870,422 
37,700,630 
45,493,396 
cwt. 
cwt. 
owt. 
Cochineal 
1,461 
1,499 
2,040 
Catch 
4 
14 
8 
Gambler ... 
12,903 
12,609 
15,308 
Madder or manjit... 
4,018 
1,932 
3,409 
Saffron ... 
160 
138 
190 
Other sorts 
15,G90 
VALUE. 
19,114 
12,474 
Aniliue and alizarine 
B. 
R. 
R. 
dyes ... 
16,12,876 
24,25,256 
26,54,017 
Cochineal 
l,30,t31 
1,28,900 
1,68,091 
Cutch 
63 
179 
158 
Gnmbier ... 
2,87,894 
55,753 
3,38,821 
3,60,483 
37,409 
Madder or manjit... 
21,830 
Saffron ... 
3,29,615 
3,02,267 
3,81,996 
Other sorts 
1,70,841 
2,31,371 
1,68,686 
Total ... 
25,87,873 
34,48,684 
37,70,840 
Later on, our correspondent wrote as follows-. — 
“ Cotton Factory. — I forgot when writing to you 
to include as a favourable feature the tendency of 
silver to fall to a low point again. The lower that 
exchange falls the better it will be for the factory 
tor exchange on the cost of manufacturing in Lanca- 
shire and on the freight of the goods shipped to the 
Bast must, of course, be recovered from the purchasers 
here. The price of the raw cotton on the spot is 
scarcely a factor, for a low exchange causes prices to 
rise equally against those who buy cotton to export 
and those who buy cotton to manufacture locally,” 
^ 
SALES OF COCONUT ESTATES. 
It is satisfactory to find a veteran like Mr. 
Charles Byrde* going in for fresh plantation pro- 
perty. He has just sold out of Elston in the 
Kelani Valley for £4,500 and invested part of his 
money in coconut properties close to Ambalangoda 
which — bought at R20,000 — ought to pay well 
with a railway at their gate, to carry the produce to 
Colombo. We wish Mr, and Mrs. Byrde all success. 
A contemporary records the sale as follows : — 
Wo learn that Sinnagoda and Bellevue estates 
at Ambalangoda, belonging to the Eastern Pro- 
duce and Estates Company Limited, have been 
purchased by Mr. Charles Byrde for R20,000 
cash. The estates are 290 acres iu extent, of which 
199 acres are fully planted with coconuts, 33 acres 
with cinnamon, while 58 acres aro paddy fields and 
waste land. The estate will be lA miles from the 
proposed railway station. 

COFFEE, TEA, COCOA, A'C. 
Colombo Commercial Company, Limited. 
Report presented to the Sixteenth Ordinary General 
Meeting of the Company, on Monday, the 23rd day of 
Feb. 1891, at 12-30 o’clock p.m. 
The Dirctors are now able to place the following 
* His brother, Mr. F. AV. Byrde, turns out to bo 
the purchaser,— Ed. T. A, 
