Feb.  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICA  I 
AGRICULTURIST. 
555 
elevation  as  lli.al  liolow  tli(“  l’i(limitala.£;ala  ran.u'e 
from  Lovc-r'ts  Jaaip  and  IVdro  aastwan'.s  and  on 
the  outljdii;;'  s|mr  of  the  Sanatariiim.  This  being 
the  case  it  ^^ill  he  readily  understooil  that  the 
Nuwara  Eliya  Tea  Estates  Co.,  in  securing  ],d‘20 
acres  of  the  very  tea  fields  v e are  describing 
and  in  a continuous,  almost  unbroken  area,  has 
secured  a uni([uely  valuable  tea  plantation  pro- 
perty— unequalled  perhaps,  acre  for  acre,  if  qual- 
ity as  well  as  quantity  produced  is  taken  into 
account,  anywhere  else  in  India  or  Ceylon.  For, 
it  must  he  reniembeicd,  that  not  only  is  the 
climate  of  ilie  Sanatarium  and  neighbourhood 
favourable  to  tiie  production  of  tlie  finest,  most 
delicate  teas,  but  the  soil — deep  black,  friable 
loam — and  the  lay  of  the  land,  undulating  easy 
slopes  or  flat  plateau.x  can  nowhere  else  be 
parallelled  at  least  in  this  island.  'We  suppose 
Pedro  (sold  to  the  Coinjiany  by  Capt.  JJayley) 
is,  acre  for  acre,  certainly  the  l ichest  tea  gar<len 
in  Ceylon  when  its  producing  eajiabilitics  up  to 
600  lb.  V'cr  acre  as  well  as  (pialify  <d‘  lea  are 
considered,  and  Pedro  as  well  as  .se^  eral  other 
pi’opertie.s  pureliased  have  the  innnense  a(h  antage 
of  lying  under  the  Pidurutalagala  range  or  spurs, 
a large  portion  under  cliffs  from  which  a pei  ennial 
supply  of  fresh  soil,  equal  to  the  best  and  most 
endui’ing  manure,  must  trickle  down,  season  by 
.season,  on  to  the  slopes  and  flats  below.  Then 
in  careful  opening  of  the  land,  selection  of  jat, 
planting  and  cultivation,  the  tea  properties  ])ur- 
chased  by  the  Company  will  compare  uith  any 
that  we  know  of,  in  our  best  cultivated  dis- 
tricts. \A'e  need  say  nothing  of  the  special 
salubrity  of  the  district  both  for  Jhiropeans 
and  coolies — \ <>ry  near  as  if  is  to  one 
of  the  finest  (dimates  in  the  world.  Xor  is  the 
district  behind  in  its  irojmlarily  with  oolies  who 
develop  bigness  and  strength  unknown  lo\ver 
down,  and  who  are  specially  iiroud  of  their 
vegetable  g.arden  privileges  when  thc!.s<^  ;ue  maile 
available.  In  transport  facilities  too,  the  dis- 
trict is  specially  favoured  with  a first-class  road 
to  the  first-class  railway  at  Xanuoya  and  the 
prospect  of  the  first  mount.ain  load  tramway  in 
f'eylon  being  eonstructeil  from  X^anuoya  to 
Kandajiola,  passing  right  through  the  Company's 
estates.  Ihit  these  and  several  other  advantages 
of  a similar  kind  are  not  to  be  mentioned  in 
the  same  breath  with  the  superiority  of  the  teas 
jiroduced,  the  wonderfully  heavy  crops  consider- 
ing the  standard  of  flavour  and  the  fact  that  it 
is  phj'sically  impossible — so,  far  as  we  can  judge 
— in  either  India  or  Ceylon  to  produce  a super- 
abundance of  such  teas.  The  demand  rather 
must  continue  in  e.xcess  ot  the  supply,  .always 
ensuring  a high  staudanl  of  \aliu'  for  Xuwara 
Eliya  ami  K.andapola  teas. 
Is  it  any  wonder  then  that  the  capahh'  f.ondon 
promoter.s  and  Directors  of  the  ( Vmipany  which 
lias  seciireil  I he  name  of  tlu'  .Sanafarium,  acting 
on  the  ad\ice  of  a planter  of  the  ('xceptional 
shrewdness  of  Mr.  .Megginson  and  an  agency 
house  with  the  long  ,aml  \aried  experience  of 
Messrs.  Leechman  tX  Co.,  should  have  deter- 
mined to  secure  the  group  of  continuous  proper- 
ties above  referred  to,  e\en  at  prices  hifherlo 
unknown  in  the  island  Allowing  a fair  value 
for  the  very  line  land  that  is  to  he  opened  for 
tea  forthwith  and  for  the  brickfield.s,  bazaars 
&c.,  the  price  paid  for  the  area  planted  with 
tea,  averages  .€85  per  acre.  AVe  think  that  everyone 
who  realizes  the  unique  position  and  value  ot  the 
e.3tates  will  consider  this  price  most  reasonable. 
Should  the  line  fuel  reserves  become  exhausted 
after  many  years  there  will  alway.s  be  the  huge 
Crown  reserves  which  border  on  all  the  pro|ier- 
fics  to  fall  back  on  and  tiiis  is  .an  advantage 
of  considerable  importance  for  the  future. 
We  may  he  sure  tliat  the  shrewd  men  of  busi- 
ness here  and  at  home,  working  for  the  Com- 
pany, ha\c  Midi  considered  all  the  bearings  and 
contingencies  of  the  case  ; and  M’e  can  only,  for 
ourselves,  congratulate  the  shareholders  on  securing 
the  very  finest  selection  of  tea  estates  in  Cey- 
lon— unequalled  too,  as  M'e  omitted  to  say  above, 
for  the  means  of  economical  M'orking,  through 
their  contiguity,  easy  lay  of  land  and  the  fact  of 
the  main  road  running  right  through  them.  No 
matter  Mdiat  the  future  of  the  tea  market  ge- 
nerally may  be,  Me  truly  believe  tliat  the  Nu- 
wara Eliya  Estates  Company  will  be  one  of  the 
most  solidly  and  permanently  succe.«sful  Com- 
panies connected  M'ith  tea  either  here  or  in  India — 
paying,  it  may  be,  not  phenomenal  dividends,  but 
a steady  good  rate  for  a long  series  of  years  to 
come — indeed  as  long  as  a tea  tree  ]»roduces  jiro- 
litably  anyM-here  in  the  island. 
It  only  remains  for  us  now  to  place  on  re- 
cord  an  .’luthenlic 
statement 
of  the 
< 'ompanv’s 
Estates  pure 
based 
up  to  date 
with  their  names. 
cultivated  am 
il  total 
acreage  as 
follows  : 
— 
Heavy  Forest- 
Forest  He-  , , 
serve  and 
Patana. 
Tea.  laud  available 
for  Tea. 
Park 
. 237 
— 
12 
249 
Concordia 
. 180 
— 
‘ 8 
188 
Pedro 
. 30.5 
45 
24 
374 
Portswood 
. .300 
J qo 
j 50 good patana ' " 
512 
Lover's  Leap. 
. 1.38 
5 
7 
150 
Keninare 
. 170 
30 
32 
232 
Nasehy 
. K)0 
— 
13 
113 
1,130 
200 
I8.S 
1,818 
s v ears’  lease  of 
Pnii'ylaud  and 
Hazelwood  . 
. 90 
— 
20 
110 
1,520 
200 
208 
1 ,928 
Besides  those  for  the  superintendents  thereareexcel 
lent  residential  bungaloM-son  Pedro  and  Portswood. 
Briidc-making  is  carried  on  very  profitably  on 
the  patana  SM’amps  of  three  of  tlie  estates.  There 
are  a fcM'  bazaars  and  there  is  demand  for  many 
more  on  the  miles  of  Government  road  running 
through  the  juoperties.  The  total  purchase 
price  including  the  leases  amounts  to  €129,800. 
We  leai'ii  that  last  year’s  yield  from  the  M'hole 
of  the  tea  in  full  bearing  M-as  400  lb.  lea  per  .acre 
which  is  a yield  f.ar  above  theaverageof  the  Island. 
The  called  up  capital  of  the  Company  is  £115,000 
in  ordinary  shares  and  €23,000  of  6 per  cent  deben- 
tures and  provides  for  ojiening  up  the  re.serve  land 
and  furnishing  the  factories  to  take  in  the  increased 
crops  expected.  The  Coiujiany  is  hopeful  of  obtain- 
ing a stock  exchange  quotation  M hich  would  add 
great  ly  to  the  value  of  the  shares  as  an  investment. 
Nonpareil  in  West  llaputale  purchased  M’ith 
Pedro,  wc  may  mention,  is  to  he  handed  over  to 
anothei’ Company  -so  that  the  NuM’.ara  Eli\m  Tea 
Estates  ('ompany  M’ill  be  true  to  its  name. ' Long 
may  ii  maintain  the  reputation  of  Ceylon  for 
line,  delicate  high-priced  teas  always  so  inuch  in 
demand. 
THE  COCCID.E  OF  CEYLON. 
P.V  E.  ERNEST  GREEN,  F.E.S. 
We  have  received  a prospectus  of  the  above- 
named  M'ork,  M’hich  is  described  as  folloM's  : — 
A Descriptive  Catalogue  of  all  the  Species  of 
Scale  Insects  at  present  recognised  in  Ceylon,  inr 
eluding  several  New  Genera  and  mimerdus  New 
Species,  illustmted  by  about  120  plates,  chroiuo- 
Ijthographed  in  the  finest  style  by  P.  W.  M,  Trap 
