Aug.  I,  1895. 1 
THE  TROPICAT 
agriculturist. 
119 
The  proceeds  amounted  to  £2,771  Its  2d,  giving 
an  average  of  Oils  Sd  per  cwt.,  against  an  average 
of  99s  2d  obtained  for  the  previous  crop.  Coffee 
sold  in  Ceylon  realised  £119  7s  lid. 
The  crop  of  tea  was  estimated  at  .')40,000  lb.  and 
the  actual  weight  sold  from  the  Company's  own 
estates  was  55.7,050  lb.  Besides  this,  446,147  lb.  of 
tea  manufactured  from  leaf  bought  from  neighbouring 
estates  \yere  sold. 
The  value  of  all  tea  sold  was  £;56,185  2s  4d,  or  an 
avei'age  of  8'66d  per  lb.  as  compared  with  lOd  for 
the  previous  season. 
Cocoa,  weighing  57  cwt.  0 qrs.  21  lb.  realised  £172 
12s  4d,  the  average  selling  price  being  60s  4d  per  cwt., 
against  71s  4d  for  the  former  year's  crop. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  total  value  of  all 
produce  sold  amounted  to  £69,251  11s  9d. 
The  total  expenditure  for  the  year  in  Ceylon  and 
London,  amounted  to  ,£61,499  16s  Id,  and  deducting 
this  from  the  value  of  the  produce,  a profit  is  shewn 
on  the  season’s  working  of  ,£7,751  15s  8d.  To  this 
has  to  be  added  the  sum  of  £831  5s  8d,  brought 
forward  from  last  year,  giving  a total  of  .£>5,088  Os  lid 
at  the  credit  of  profit  and  loss  account. 
An  Interim  dividend  of  21  per  cent,  on  the  capital 
of  the  Company  was  paid  on  the  lOfch  .lanuary  last, 
which  absorbed  £2,500  of  the  above-named  sum,  and 
the  Dii'ectors  now  recommend  that  .£3, .500  be  applied 
to  the  payment  of  a further  dividend  of  jiercent., 
making  6 per  cent,  for  the  year,  and  that  the 
balance  of  £2,083  Os  lid  be  dealt  with  as  follows  : — 
To  be  written  off  Cost  of  Ledgerwatte. . ,£1,000  0 0 
To  be  credited  towards  Cost  of  Badulla 
Tea  Factory 1,000  0 0 
To  be  carried  forward  to  next  Account..  83  0 11 
£2,083  0 11 
The  coffee  crop  was  less  than  half  that  of  the 
previous  season,  the  crop  of  556  cwt.  being  secured 
from  an  area  of  765  acres,  or  at  the  rate  of  about 
three-fourths  of  a cwt.  per  acre.  The  proceeds  of 
the  coffee  crop  were  £2,893  17s  Id  as  against 
£6,876  7s  7d  for  the  previous  year,  shewing  a falling 
off  of  £3,982  10s  6d. 
The  crop  of  555,650  lb.  of  tea  was  obtained  from 
an  area  of  say  1,310  acres,  being  equal  to  an  average 
yield  of  424  lb.  per  acre,  but  this  area  include  2.54 
acres  of  young  tea  from  which  only  small  pluckings 
were  obtained. 
Sharehbldcrs  will  see  from  the  above  tJiat  the 
returns  from  tea  are  well  up  to  expectations,  and 
that  the  shrinkage  in  revenue  as  compared  with 
last  year  is  entirely  duo  to  the  sliort  coffee  crop. 
Cinchona  bark  weigliing  19,607  lb.  has  been  shipped 
to  Loudon  on  account  of  crop  1898-1,  but  not  yet 
realised.  Owing  to  the  low  prices  ruling  for  bark 
the  proceeds  will  Ije  very  small,  and  they  will  be 
credited  to  crop  1894-5. 
t'lior  1894-.5. 
The  promise  for  this  season  is  good  and  it  is 
hoped  that  the  following  crops  will  be  secured : 
Coffee  . . . . 1,000  cwt. 
Tea  . . . . 575,000  lb. 
If  prices  remain  at  or  about  their  present  level  the 
year’s  working  should  therefore  result  in  a hi<ddy 
satisfactory  profit.  ° 
The  factory  at  Badulla,  referred  to  in  last  report, 
was  opened  for  the  manufacture  of  tea  in  January 
last,  and  since  then  has  been  working  continuously 
»nd  giving  entire  satisfaction. 
During  the  past  year  150  acres  have  been  planted 
up  in  tea,  and  it  js  proposed  to  plant  up  a further 
150  acres  in  the  autumn  of  the  current  3-oar. 
The  area  now  under  tea  is  as  follows  : — 
T E A. 
Over  5 years  old 
Planted  Novcmber-Docember  1.S90 
Do  ..  1891 
Do  ..  1892 
Do  . . 1898 
Do  . . lj?<)  1 
Total  area  under  tea  . . 
Total  area  under  coffee. , 
1,017  acres. 
283  „ 
109  „ 
45  „ 
115  „ 
150  „ 
1,719  acres, 
669  ,, 
INDIAN  AND  CEYI.ON  TEA. 
ANNUAL  REVIEW. 
88,  Mincing  Lane,  11th  .June,  1895. 
The  close  of  another  year,  marked  by  the  issue  of 
the  statistics  for  t'ne  twelve  months  ending  31st  May, 
finds  the  position  of  the  two  main  branches  of  the  Tea 
Trade  attracting  general  attention ; and  not  without 
reason,  in  view  of  the  vast  commercial  interests 
involved. 
In  contrast  with  the  discouragement  that  some 
have  had  to  face  in  other  departments  of  the  Em- 
pire’s commerce,  producers  of  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea 
have  the  satisfactions  of  being  identified  with  a stable 
and  promising  Industry — liable,  it  is  true,  to  fluctua- 
tions affecting  the  degree  of  its  prosperity,  but  built 
upon  the  secure  foundation  of  administrative  exjreri- 
ence,  and  freed  as  far  as  any  industrial  undertaking  can 
be  from  dependence  upon  the  chances  of  a merely 
speculative  enterprise. 
The  result  of  the  year’s  work  has  been  excep- 
tionally good.  To  some  extent,  circumstances  have 
contributed  to  make  it  so : an  increase  of  only 
moderate  dimensions  in  tiie  production  ; sustained 
demand  at  home;  growing  demand  from  other  mar- 
kets ; low  rates  of  exchange  and  freight — have  told 
in  favour  of  producers.  But  behind  these  several 
factors  of  success  stands  the  evidence  that  those 
on  whom  the  burden  of  responsibility  primarily  rests — 
the  managers  and  those  who  direct  and  assist  them 
— have  shown  their  capacity  to  maintain  the  general 
excellence  of  their  produce;  often  to  increase  the 
productiveness  of  their  gardens ; and  to  do  so  with- 
out excessive  expenditure. 
The  outcome  has  been  to  widen  the  margin  between 
cost  and  proceeds  to  the  point  which  enhances  the 
value  of  xila-otations  for  the  time  being,  and  en- 
ables provisions  to  be  made  for  contingencies  of 
the  future. 
How  far  these  contingencies  may  affect  us  in  years 
to  come  it  is  difficult  to  forecast ; but  it  would  seem 
mainly  to  depend  upon — 
1.  Whether  increase  in  production  be  gradual  or 
excessive  in  any  one  year. 
2.  The  point  to  which  the  total  supply  eventually 
expands. 
8.  ’The  result  of  the  efforts  made  to  induce  con- 
sumers abroad  to  use  our  tea. 
Higher  rates  of  exhange  or  freight;  difficulty  in  obtain- 
ing labour,  have,  of  course,  to  be  regarded  as  possibi- 
lities ; but  they  may  be  counterbalanced  by  economies 
resulting  from  amalgamation  of  sm.all  estates  -with 
larger  ones  ; by  abandonment  of  outlying  »r  inferior 
plots  difficult  to  cultivate  profitably  ; and  by  gradual 
increase  in  the  productiveness  of  the  plant  itself  aris- 
ing from  high-cultivation,  of  w hich  some  are  now  reap- 
ing the  fruit. 
Should  the  conditions  hereafter  be  less  favourable 
than  they  are  today,  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  that  has 
made  extensions,  roads,  and  bridges  ; given  a com- 
plete equipment  of  buildings  and  machinery  ; and  cre- 
ated reserve  funds — out  of  revenue — will  be  emjphasized. 
These  are  matters  of  deeper  concern  than  market 
movements,  variations  of  climate,  tha  relative  success  of 
one  locality  as  compared  with  another,  or  the  temporary 
transference  of  demand  from  one  class  of  tea  to  another 
important  as  these  are  to  individual  interests.  The 
stability  of  the  industry,  as  a whole,  rests  upon  a 
wider  basis  : and  its  position  will  be  appraised  and 
its  prospects  gauged  by  tha  record  of  results  achieved 
during  a series  of  3-ears,  adverse  as  well  as  pros- 
perous. This  record  entitles  Managers  to  look  back 
on  the  past  with  satisfaction,  and  justifies  proprietors 
in  regardhig  the  future  with  reasonable  confidence. 
Among  the  features  that  have  marked  the  season 
now  closed,  two  stand  prominent,  viz.,  that  the 
Ilnitcd  Xingdom  has  talven  a larger  quantity  of 
British-grown  tea  than  ever  before  ; and,  that  a 
higher  price  has  been  obtained  for  it  than  for  the 
previous  «rop.  But  w's  are  approaching  the  limit 
of  consuming  power  at  home  ; there  only  remaina 
a margin  of  14  per  cent,  to  be  gained  ; and  we 
cannot  expect  the  other  kinds  in  use  to  be  entirely 
displaced.  ■ ' 
