THE  TROPTCAT. 
i:i)KK  Al'oJ.I.A  TPA  ol' 
(’KVLoX,  LIMITED. 
"We  have  received  a copy  of  the  prospectu^s  of  this 
Company  which  has  been  formed  witli  a capital  of 
£50,000  ill  5,000  shares  of  £10  each,  to  purchase 
from  Messrs.  Bott  and  Watt,  EJerapolla  estate,  and 
from  iMr.  Mac  Martin,  Ardross  estate,  both  properties 
being  situated  in  the  Kelaui  Valley  District,  Ceylon. 
The  Directors  arc  Messrs.  James  Bett,  Ederapolla 
estate,  Ceylon  (Vendor);  J.  M.  MacMartin,  Ardross 
estate,  Ceylon  (Vendor);  G.  W.  Paine,  Chairman  of 
the  Kelani  Valley  Tea  Association,  Limited ; 11. 
Porter.  iMaskeliya,  Ceylon,  Managing  Director  of 
the  Kelani  Valley  Tea  Association,  Limited.  Manag- 
ing Director  in  Ceylon — Mr.  ^Vrthur  Watt,  Edera- 
])olla  estate,  Ceylon  fVendor).  Bankers — National 
Bank  of  India,  Limited,  17  Threadiieedle  Street,  E.C. 
Solicitors— Me.ssis.  Murray,  Llutchins,  Stirling  A 
Murray,  11  Birchin  Lane,  E.C.  Auditors — Messrs. 
Cape  A'  Dalgleish,  S Old  Jewry,  E.C.  Secretaries 
and  Ol'lioe — Messrs.  Lyall.  Anderson  A Co.,  Hi  Pliil- 
put  Lane,  E.C.  The  estates  have  been  reported  on 
and  valued  by  Mr.  R.  Porter.  Managing  Director  of 
the  Kelani  Valley  Tea  Association,  Limited,  and  the 
Company  have  acquired  the  properties  at  the  values 
put  upon  them  by  Mr.  Porter.  The  \ endors  have 
agreed  to  accept  piynient  as  follows; — tT2,f!fiO  in  fully- 
(laid  shares.  in  cash— £T'.),0Ui). 
I’l.ANTl.NC  IN  'I’llE  STK.MTS 
Si;T'J'i,E.Mi:.NTS. 
I'roin  Mii;  Kuala  Kangsar  Monthly  Report  for 
Nov.  1811.5,  (mldishe'l  in  tlie  Pemh  (loccnimcnf 
(iazette  of  Jan.  17,  we  take  the  following: — 
On  the  ‘20th  instant,  in  company  with  tlie  Act- 
ing District  I'lnginecr,  I went  to  Padang  Rengas,  and 
there  met  the  State  Engineer  : we  then  proeoeded  to 
Sungei  Ati,  a small  river  that  takes  its  rise  in  the 
Hijau  range;  this  river  h.is  washed  down  thousands 
of  tons  of  earth  fro)ii  the  side  of  the  hill  on  which  the 
Waterloo  coffee  estate  is  situated.  This  earth  has 
covered  tlie  land  in  the  valley  to  a depth  of  one  or  two 
feet  and  destroyed  a great  many  valuable  kampongs. 
There  are.  several  hundreds  of  acresof  hendang  land  be- 
low this  whicli  will  eventually  lie  destroyed  unless 
something  is  done,  and  that  sliortly.  T’he  State 
Engineer  has  decided  to  run  one  or  more  sections 
of  levels  across  the  upper  end  of  the  valley  and 
then  put  in  a succession  of  dams  and  turn  this  part 
of  the  valley,  which  Is  now  worthless,  into  a sort  of 
catch  pit  and  by  this  means  keep  the  falling  e.arth 
from  further  encroaching  upon  the  lower  land.  The 
sooner  this  is  done  the  better.  The  original  cause 
of  this  damage  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  jungle 
on  Waterloo,  which  at  onetime,  by  means  of  its  roots, 
held  the  earth  together,  has  been  cleared  away  and 
the  hill  being  very  steep  has  been  washed  down  by 
every  successive  rain. 
7.  The  kampongs  that  have  by  this  means  been 
totally  destroyed  belong  to  the  ordinary  Malay  raiotx 
who  have  been  ruined  by  this.  I think  that  these 
people  should  undoubtedly  be  compensated  for  the 
loss  they  have  suffered.  The  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment  was  drawn  to  this  early  in  the  current  year  hut 
up  to  the  present  nothing  has  been  done. 
Over  1,4U0  pikuls  of  coffee  have  been  shipped  from 
the  Kamuning  Estate  for  the  year  ending  on  the 
;5ist  October.  Only  ‘2J  per  cent  of  this  was  number 
two  coffee.  There  are  altogether  391)  acres  under 
cultivation,  265  of  which  are  in  bearing.  This  gives 
over  live  pikuls  to  the  acre,  which  at  the  present 
price  means  over  ft  200  per  acre.  Tqere  are  thousands 
pf  acres  of  land  equally  suitaqle  for  coffee  to  the 
north  of  Lliis  estate,  aiid  wiih  this  land  opened  up 
by  the  Kamuning-Lassag  road,  which  will  he  about 
10  miles  in  length,  access  to  this  land  will  be  easy. 
When  the  railway  reaches  Chumor  it  will  only  be  a 
mattes  of  10  miles  of  cartage,  instead  of  as  formerly, 
;',5  miles  to  Taiping  and  then  trans-shipping  into  the 
railway  aiul  again  into  the  I’enang  boats. 
The’ owners  of  tlie  Gapis  Estate  are  pushing  on 
with  their  eleainig  and  planting  very  fast.  The 
young  coconuts  on  this  estate  are  loolcing  very  well 
AGRICULTURIST,  [Ff.b.  i,  1896. 
and  limy  ii.ave  planted  .already  about  70  acres  in 
coffee. 
I have  had  two  applications  for  coffee  land  this 
month,  from  a party  of  Malays  and  a Chinaman 
respectively.  Two  Chinese  towkays  have  also  been 
inquiring  about  land  for  planting  coffee.  In  one  in- 
stance the  would  he  planter  is  willing,  I understand, 
to  plant  up  as  much  as  1,000  acres  if  he  can  get 
suitable  land  and  a good  man  to  manage  for  him. 
If  these  men  are  prepared  to  put  the  monoy  they 
make  out  of  tin  mining  into  planting,  I think  it  will 
be  a most  excellent  thing  for  the  State  as  well  as 
the  men  themselves.  What  is  wanted  novv  more 
than  anything  is  a few  experienced  planters,  who 
are  willing  to  select  and  plant  up  and  manage  the 
the  land  for  them.  I think  it  only  requires  one 
or  two  start,  to  shew  the  Chinese  what  can  be  done 
with  European  management,  and  many  more  will 
follow  suit.  I would  suggest  that  special  and  very 
favourable  terms  bo  offered  to  the  first  three  or 
four  Chinese  who  aro  prepared  to  lake  up,  and 
plant  a certain  area  in  coffee  within  a certain  time. 
Let  them  either  have  the  land  at  a reduced 
quit-rent  free  until  the  plants  are  in 
hearing.  I personally  do  not  think  the  Government 
can  do  too  much  to  induce  tne  Chinese  to  take  to 
planting  and  I feel  sure  that  the  future  of  the  State 
will  greatly  benefit  if  this  is  achieved. 
Tlio  SeUnufor  .fonntnl  has  the  following; — 
Not  only  for  coffee  planting  is  there  a demand 
for  laud  in  Kuala  Selangor.  We  hear  that  an 
application  has  been  received  for  a very  extensive 
concession  for  pepper  and  gamhier ; also  that  a 
gentleman,  lately  visiting  the  district,  expressed 
a desire  to  take  up  a thousand  acres  for  coco- nut 
cultivation.  This  latter  application  is  for  land 
subject  to  tidal  influence,  which  renders  the  area 
applied  for  useless  for  any  other  purpose.  It  is 
to  he  hoped  that  the  application,  at  any  rale,  will 
he  granted,  for  in  that  event  the  concessionaire  has 
stated  his  willingness  to  import  the  necessary  plant 
and  machinery  for  the  extraction  of  oil  and  tlie 
working  of  fibre,  and  start  an  industry  tliat  would 
bring  wealth  to  the  natives  and  to  the  Governmeiu. 
A high  authority  once  informed  ns  that  our  “tin  won't 
last  for  ever."  and  that  we  were  “going  on  the 
right  lines  in  dcv»Joping  our  agricultural  resources.'' 
Therefore,  let  the  development  lie  encouraged. 
A general  meeting  of  members  of  the  Selangor 
rianters'  Association  will  he  held  in  the  Reading 
Room  of  the  Selangor  Club  to  on  Jan.  11th. 
THE  CEYLON  LAND  AND  FRODCCE 
COMPANY,  LIMITED. 
ANNUAL  REPORT. 
Your  Directors  bag  to  submit  the  annexed  Pr 
and  Loss  Account  and  Balance  sheet  for  the  y 
ending  30th  June,  1895,  duly  audited. 
The  amount  at  credit  of  Profit  and  Loss  Account 
is  £8, 836  15  6,  which,  with  the  sum  of  £358  0 2 
brought  forward  from  last  year,  leaves  £i),194  15  8 to 
be  dealt  with. 
On  July  18th  last,  an  Interim  Dividend  of  7i  per 
cent,  on  the  Ordinary  Shares  and  3 per  cent,  on  the 
Preference  Shares  was  paid,  and  j'our  Directors  now 
propose  to  pay  on  the  21st  day  of  .January,  1896,  the 
balance  of  the  fixed  Cumulative  Dividend  on  the  Pre- 
ference Shares  (3  percent.)  making  6 per  <!ent.  for  the 
year,  and  74  per  cent,  on  the  ordinary  shares  making  15 
per  cent,  for  the  year,  and  in  addition  a bonus  of  5 per 
cent  on  the  ordinary  shares — all  free  of  Income  Tax.  It 
is  also  proposed  to  ti-ansfer  £2,000  from  Profit  and  Loss 
Account  to  a Reserve  PNind,  and  carry  forward  the 
balance  of  £1,:!07  15s.  H i.,  subject  to  the  Directors’ 
remuneration  f<ir  the  year  under  review,  to  bo  fixed 
at  the  general  meeting,  and  to  the  payment  of  Income 
Tax,  Ac. 
Tfiie  result  of  the  operations  during  the  past  season 
has  been  very  satisfactory,  tlie  largest  crop  of  Cocoa 
yet  secured  from  the  Comp.uiy's  estate  having  been 
marketed,  whilst  the  realized  net  pi  ice  of  tea  shewed 
an  improvement  as  compared  with  the  previous  period. 
