Sept.  2,  1895. J i’HE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
187 
THE  MOCHA  TEA  COMPANY  OF 
CEYLON,  LIMITED. 
GENEllAL  MEETING. 
A general  meeting  of  the  shareholders  of  the  above 
Company  was  held  today,  at  noon,  at  the  Office 
of  Messrs.  J.  M.  Robertson  A Co.,  (the  Agents  and 
Secretaries),  w'hen  Mr.  H.  Bois  presided,  the  others 
present  being  Messrs.  W.  B.  Kingsbury,  W.  Moir, 
C.  Minto  Gwatkin,  R.  Webster,  and  Captain  San- 
deman. 
Mr.  Moir  read  the  notice  convening  the  meeting, 
and  after  that  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting,  which 
were  confirmed. 
ADOPTION  OE  THE  KEPOKT. 
The  following  is  the 
KEPOHT  OP  THE  IHRECTOlt.S. 
The  Directors  have  the  pleasure  to  submit  their  report 
and  accounts  for  tlie  year  eiuling  the  SOth  of  .June  last, 
which  are,  tliey  consider,  of  a satisf.ictory  nature. 
Doth  estates  have  sliglitly  exceeded  their  estimates, 
310,810  lb.,  having  been  made  against  305,000  lb.  esti- 
mated for  : 108  bushels  of  pounded  coffee  were  also  secured 
on  Mocha. 
The  yield  of  tea  is  equal  to  375  lb.  per  acre  in  bear- 
ing, and  deducting  capital  expenditure  and  that  on 
produce  other  than  tea,  the  cost  per  lb.  delivered  in 
Colombo  was  26  cents,  while  the  nett  average  price  re- 
alised was  57 '40  cents  per  lb.,  as  compared  with  54 "01 
cents  per  lb.  averaged  last  season. 
The  nett  profit  for  the  year  is  R102,.534'40,  w'hich  is  25'38 
1>er  cent,  on  the  capital  of  the  (.'ompany,  and  adding 
1992'52,  the  balance  brought  forward,  there  is  K103,.526'92 
to  be  dealt  with. 
R 
Out  of  this,  the  Directors  have  already  paid  an 
interim  dividend  of  8 per  cent.,  absorbing  ..  32,320’00 
A bonus  has  been  paid  to  Mr.  Maclure  and  Mr. 
Tench,  the  Superintendents  on  the  Estates,  of  2,000'0u 
Expenses  on  clearing  on  Glentilt  have  been 
written  off  • . . . . 623'01 
There  has  been  transferred  to  depreciation 
account  . . 7,580‘20 
There  has  been  transferred  to  reserve  fund  . . 15,000'O0 
Leaving  available  a balance  of  ..  ..  46,003 ‘71 
R103,52C-92 
Out  of  this  balance  it  is  proposed  to  pay  a 
further  dividend  of  11  per  cent,  (making  19  per  R 
cent  for  the  year)  which  will  absorb  . . 44,440‘00 
anil  to  carry  forward  the  balance  of  . . 1,563’71 
R46,00o'71 
Tire  Company’s  properties  now  consist  approximately 
of  ; — 
834  acres  tea  in  bearing 
15  ,,  under  one  year 
GO  .,  grass  land 
125  ,,  forest  and  fuel  trees 
21  ,,  buildings,  roads,  &c. 
1,055  acres. 
The  estimates  for  season  1895-96  point  to  similar,  or 
.slightly  better,  results  than  those  obtained  in  1894-95. 
Mr.  E \V  Dois  and  Mr.  E Christian  having  left  the  island, 
Mr.  II  Dois  and  Mr.  W Moir  have  joined  the  Doard  at  the 
invitation  of  the  Directors. 
The  Chairman  briefly  moved  tlie  adoption  of  the 
Report.  He  had  nothing  of  inteiest  to  add  beyond 
the  information  contaiued  in  the  Report.  The  work- 
ing of  the  estate  for  the  past  y«.ar  bad  been  very 
satisfactory,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  result  of 
the  coming  year’s  work  would  be  equally  so. 
Mr.  Wers'it.u  seconded  the  motion,  which  was 
carried  nem.  con. 
DECEARAITON  OF  DIVIDEND. 
Mr.  Gwatkin  proposed  that  a dividend  of  11  per 
cent,  be  declared,  making  with  the  interim  dividend 
of  8 per  cent,  already  paid,  a total  of  19  per  cent, 
for  the  year  l«94-95. 
Mr.  Mebsti  r seconded. — Carried. 
The  Chairman  moved  that  iMr.  W.  Moir,  one  of 
the  directors  retiring  by  rotation,  be  re-elected  to 
the  board. 
Mr.  Webster  seconded. — Carried. 
ELECTION  OF  AUDITOR. 
Mr.  Gwatkin  proposed  that  Mr.  H.  J.  Scott 
be  appointed  Auditor  for  the  year. 
Mr.  Webster  seconded.— Carried. 
REMUNERATION  OF  AGENTS  AND  SECRETARIES. 
The  Chairman  then  moved ; — “ That  from  the  1st 
of  July,  1896,  the  remuneration  of  the  agents  and 
secretaries  be  as  follows  : — For  office  rent.  Secret- 
ary’s and  clerical  work,  Rl,,600  per  annum  ; for  tea 
shipped  -J  cent  per  lb.;  return  commission  on  freight 
for  receiving,  transporting,  shipping  etc  ; 4 per  cent, 
commission  on  drafts  drawn,  as  agents  and  secre- 
taries of  the  company ; on  tea  sold  locally  half  cent 
per  lb.;  and  one  per  cent,  commission  on  account 
sales  for  receiving,  transporting,  storing,  fire  insur- 
ance, opening  and  closing,  sampling,  arranging  sales 
and  collecting  proceeds.” 
Capt.  Sandeman  seconded. — -Carried. 
VISITING  agent's  remuneration. 
The  Chairman  proposed; — “That  from  July  1st 
1895,  the  fee  of  the  visiting  agent  for  each  estate  be 
R500  for  four  quarterly  visits.” 
Mr.  Gwatkin  seconded. — Carried. 
Mr.  Kingsbury  proposed  a vote  of  thanks  to  the 
chair,  and  this  terminated  the  proceedings. 
[We  are  iiiilelited  to  our  evening  contemporary  for  the 
proceeiling.s,  our  own  reporter  having  tlirougli  a mistake, 
mis.sed  the  meeting.] 
“COCHRAN’S  HANDBOOK  OF  CHEMICAL 
ANALYSIS”  : 
AN  INDISPENSABLE  GUIDE  TO  THE  MERCHANT 
AND  BROKER  AS  WELL  AS  PLANTER. 
Mr.  John  Hughe.s,  Agricultural  Analyst,  writing 
from  London  on  July  12th  in  acknowledgment 
of  a copy  of  the  above  work,  says  “I  noticed 
some  weeks  since  that  a copy  had  been  for- 
warded to  the  Cliemical  Society  Burlington 
House,  where  it  will  he  a u.seful  work  for  re- 
ference in  regard  to  Tropical  Agricultural  Ana- 
lyses. 
“ The  book  is  one  that  deserves  to  be  gene- 
rally known  in  order  to  he  fully  appreciated,  for 
its  contents  are  of  practical  use  to  the  merchant 
and  broker  quite  as  much  as  it  must  naturally 
be  to  the  planter.  In  regard  to  the  latter  I can 
safely  say  tliat  if  he  will  only  carefully  peruse 
its  closely  filled  pages  it  should  not  he  neces- 
sary to  search  elsewhere  for  practical  informa- 
tion respecting  the  composition  of  Ceylon  soils 
and  manures.  The  work  does  great  credit  to  the 
author  who  has  compressed  years  of  hard  work, 
and  many  hours  of  calculation  of  the  analytical 
results,  into  a practical  form  available  for  im- 
mediate use. 
“ Indeed  tlie  daily  demand  upon  its  contents, 
would  suggest  that  a stronger  and  more  substan- 
tial binding  should  liave  been  added  ; but  this  is 
a matter  that  can  he  remedied  in  future  issues.” 
TEA,  COFFEE  AND  CINCHONA  PLANTING 
IV  JAVA. 
Mr.  A.  E.  Wright  returned  today  liy  the  M.M. 
steamer  after  two  montlis’  absence,  cliielly  spent 
in  visiting  Ids  property  in  West  Java.  At 
Singapore  when  coming  hack  he  met  at  Mr. 
Swettenham’s  residence,  Mr.  Talliot  on  his  way  to 
East  Java,  and  as  he  thouglit  not  looking  very 
well.  Mr.  Sw'ettenham  was  in  good  health 
and  spirits,  over  his  new  work,  and  as  Acting 
Governor. 
In  Java,  Mr.  WriMit  has  this  time  travelled 
a good  deal  seeing  the  principal  districts  of  the 
island  ; but  we  can  only  notice  for  the  present. 
Ids  “ Wangiewatte”  estate  of  over  l.GOO  acres — 
half  ill  cultivation,  half  forest,  all  available, 
eko  atioii  ‘1,000  to  4,000  fi-et,  such  soil  as  Ceylon 
can  nowhere  shew  - 490  acres  cott'ee  giving  good 
cro])S  for  a few'  years  ; but  j\lr.  Wriglit  has  no 
faitli  in  its  permanency;  2-tO  acres  of  cinchona; 
nd  at  present  105  acres  of  lea,  about  70  ip 
