fu,r> 
the  tropical  agricui.turtst. 
[March  2,  1S96, 
lima  Cultivated.  Umniny  iiinjrovos  a lieavy  soil  by 
altering  its  texture,  and  for  the  very  same  reason 
impoverishes  a li^ht  sandy  soil  bv  burning  out 
of  it  the  little  organic  matter  it  has.  In  de- 
fiance of  appearance,  I used  to  cut  and  arrange  the 
blanches  of  the  coconut  tree  round  the  stems  in 
dry  weather  to  act  as  a mulching  and  conserve 
moisture.  With  the  first  April  rains,  and  when 
danger  from  fires  has  pa-sed,  I used  to  burn  them. 
LIMES  CROWN  IN  HAPUTALE. 
Mr.  •).  A.  iMarlcnsz  of  .MaeaUlonia,  Koslamla, 
writes  : — As  there  has  lieen  .some  talk  lately 
of  growing  oranges  ami  lemons  Ne.  in  Ceylon 
on  a large  scale,  and  that  the  Haimtale  district 
is  likely  to  he  most  suited  for  such  cnltiv.ation, 
I smul  yon  by  tod.ay’s  tiippal  a .--mall  box  ot 
limes  grown  on  this  estate  nmler  oidinary  eir 
cnnmtamais.  ^’oii  will  see  llial  lliey  ai'c  ol  lair 
size  and  weiglit  (2|Ci/..  Iieing  about  1 be  a\  erage), 
and  that  they  are  not  iliiek-skimied.  Witli  better 
cultivation  I feel  sure  much  larger  limes  could 
be  grown.’' — The  limes  are  line,  large  ones  ; and 
the  flavour  and  strength  of  the  juice  are  much 
superior  to  those  of  the  Inwconntry  limes. 
CEYLON  AND  INDIAN  TEA  IN 
AMERICA. 
Mr.  Alex.  Philip  at  the  re<inesL  of  the  “ Com- 
mittee of  Thirty  ” has  forwarded  to  ns  a pictorial 
c.ntting  from  the  Neiv  Yorl:  Herald  and  an 
.article  “A  Romance  of  (,'ommeree,”  received 
from  Mr.  Wm.  Mackenzie.  The  former  is  .an  ad- 
vertisement of  Lipton’s  tea  showing  an  attractively 
got  up  eolonreil  girl  emerging  from  a tea  box 
with  a packet  in  one  hand  and  “ directions  from 
the  tea  gardens”  in  the  other.  “The  Romance 
ot  Commerce  ” deals  with  the  development  of 
the  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  indn.stry.  ft  is  written 
in  a “ taking  ” fashion  and  is  all  in  praise  of 
Inilian  and  Ceylon  tea. 
NEW  TEA  COMPANIES. 
THE  ANKANDK  E.STATK  COMI’ANV  OF  CKYRON 
UMITEO. 
The  memorandum  and  artiedes  of  Association  of 
“ The  Ankande  Estate  Company  of  t!eylou,  Limited  ” 
are  published  in  a recent  daZeUr  The  objects  for 
which  this  Company  is  es'ablished  are,  among  others, 
atnted  to  be  to  accpiire  the  Ankande,  Glenury,  and 
’4  It  wood  estates,  situated  in  the  Districts  of  Matale 
North  and  Matale  East,  in  the  Island  of  Ceylon  and 
io  purchase  tea  leaf  and  (or)  other  raw  products  for 
manufacture,  manipulation,  or  sale.  Ihc  habdity  of 
the  Shareholders  is  limited.  The  capital  of  this  Com- 
nanv  is  R100,(XX>,  divided  into  1,000  shares  of  RlOO 
ionVi  with  Dow^er  to  increase  or  reduce  the  capital. 
Iha^’er  havTaleady  been  purchased  by  T Watson 
RqH  H Creasy,  Wdliani  ,T  Robinson,  Laura  Jjouisa 
Mary  Robson,  by  her  attorney  William  d Robson 
Caroline  Eliza  Robson,  by  her  attorney  M dliam  .7 
Robson,  John  F Raker,  im^Norman  Raker. 
^TINSFORI)  tea  company  of  CEYLON,  LIMITED 
' The  meiiioraiidum  and  articles  of  Association  of 
thrStinsford  Tea  Compnny  of  Ceylon,  Jmiiitod,  arc 
also  published  in  the  dazcUe.  Among  the  ob.iects 
w which  the  Company  is  established  are— to  pur- 
JhasI  or  otherwise  acqni.e  the  Stinstorc  and  Ivies 
estates  in  the  Kelani  Valley  in  Ceylon,  or  either  of  them 
of  any  part  or  parts  thereof.  To  purchase  tea  leaf 
and  (or)  others  raw  products  for  manufacture,  manipu- 
lation, and  sale,  and  to  manufacture,  manipula  e, 
Ifd  sell  the  same.  'Po  establish  and  maintain  m-fhe 
nnited  Kingdom,  in  Ceylon,  or  elsewhere,  stores 
shfprplaces  for  the  sale  of  tea,  coffee,  cocoa  and 
Sr  articles  of  food,  drink,  or  refreshment,  whole- 
sale or  retail.  Tlie  liability  of  the  Sliai'cholders  is 
limited.  The  nominal  capital  of  the  Company  is 
R500,(X)0  divided  into  .5,000  shares  of  one  hundred 
rupees  eacli  (of  whicli  only  three  hundred  thousand 
rupee.s  are  now  called  up),  with  power  to  increase 
or  reduce  the  capital.  Shares  have  already  been  pur- 
chased by  : — Henry  Bois,  W Forsythe,  D R Mar- 
shall, D Cameron,  Walter  J Smith,  Wni.  P’  Robert- 
son Reid  and  J A Hunter. 
GLASGOW  ESTATE  COMPANY,  LIMITED. 
Tlie  annual  ordinary  general  meeting  of  the 
Glasgow  Estate  Company,  Limited,  ivas  held  in 
the  registered  office  of  the  Company,  Queen 
Street  (Mes.srs.  ‘Whitall  tS:  Co.’s),  on  the  loth  ult. 
]Mr.  J.  G.  'Wardrop  the  Chairman  pn  sided  and 
others  jireseiit  ivere  Messrs.  C.  A.  Leecliiiian 
.and  G.  ^Y.  Carlyon  (Directors),  Mp.-<srs.  ,1.  II. 
Stai'C'y,  II.  II.  Capper,  G.  II.  Alston,  (b  ('. 
Walkin',  ( S.  W'arri'ii,  and  by  proxy  Messrs.  .\. 
'I’liuiiijisun,  W.  II.  G.  DiiMcan  and  H.  'I’arranl, 
Ml'.  Ward  10)1  iias  called  to  the  chair.  Notice 
ealliiig  the  meeting  having  been  read  and  minutes 
eonlirmed.  Tlie  Re|iortand  accounts  were  ado))ted 
and  a linal  dividend  of  10  per  cent  was  decl.arod 
making  IS  per  cent  for  the  year. 
THE  DIRKCTOlis’  l!i:i'()|;  I' 
was  jirosented  as  follow  : — 
Acee.vge. 
Tea  in  full  bearing  . . -10:!  acres. 
Do.  partial  bearing  . . (>5  ,, 
Do.  not  in  bearing  ..  Ml  ,, 
Coffee  amongst  Tea  ((>5  acres) 
Grass..  ..  ..  2 „ 
Jungle,  Ac.  ..  ..  100  „ 
Total  Estate  ..  714  acres. 
The  Directors  have  pleasure  in  submitting  to  tlie 
Sli.areholders  the  accounts  of  the  Company  for  the 
past  year. 
The  crop  secured  amounted  to  232.2.S9  lb.  Tea  and 
.51)2  bushels  Coffee,  against  estimates  of  205,000  lb. 
and  500  bushels  respectively. 
The  net  average  price  of  Tea  and  Coffee  were 
over  58^  cents,  per  lb.  and  R18  per  busliel  respectively; 
the  prices  in  the  previous  year  being  69  J cents,  and 
R18-25. 
After  making  the  usual  provision  for  Depreciation 
of  Buildings  and  Machinery,  the  result  of  the  year's 
working,  including  a small  balance  from  1894,  is  a 
profit  of  R7 1,086  64,  equal  to  21J  per  cent,  on  the 
Capital  of  the  Company. 
An  interim  Dividend  of  8 per  cent,  was  declared  on 
3rd  August  last,  and  the  Directors  now  recommend 
the  payment  of  a final  Dividend  of  10  per  cent., 
making  18  percent,  for  the  year;  and  that  E12,000 
be  added  to  the  Extension  Fund.  After  payment  of 
Jt:400  extra  fees  to  the  Directors,  in  terms  of  the 
Resolution  jiassed  on  18th  February,  1898,  a balance 
of  H286'64  will  remain  to  be  carried  forward. 
The  estimates  for  the  current  year  are  242.0001bs. 
Tea  and  200  bushels  coffee  on  an  expenditure  on 
working  account  of  R67,414'80.  It  is  proposed  to 
bring  under  cultivation  during  this  year  further  15 
to  20  acres  of  forest  laud,  regulating  th's  area  by 
the  demand  from  neighbouring  estates  for  timber, 
for  fuel  und  building  purposes.  The  cost  of  this  ex- 
tension, of  additional  machinery  and  buildings,  Ac., 
is  estimated  at  R5,870. 
The  Directors  have  sanctioned  tlie  construction  of 
a weir  across  the  Agra  river  .and  contracted  for  a 
complete  Turbine  installation  for  Glasgow  factory  at 
an  estimated  cost  for  the  whole  work  of  R22,000. 
When  the  above  are  completed,  the  factory  will  have 
at  all  times  an  ample  command  of  water  power, 
thereby  economizing  working  expenses  and  doing 
away  with  the  necessity  for  a large  fuel  reserve. 
In  terms  of  the  Articles  of  Association  Mr.  U. 
Wardrop  retires  by  rotation  from  the  Board,  but  is 
eligible  for  re-election. 
Mr.  A.  L.  Cross  being  about  to  leave  the  Island 
Mr.  Megginson  has  resumed  the  visiting  of  the  Com- 
pany’s properties. 
