642 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  2,  1896. 
turn  to  Enolaml  next  week,  when  we  shall 
arjain  have  the  ahvancage  of  his  extensive  ami 
varied  experience  as  a inactical  planter.  Mean- 
while, 1 will  do  my  best,  with  your  iiidul^jience, 
to  take  his  ])lace  on  this  occasion.  You  are 
aware  that,  this  being  the  first  or  the  statutory 
meeting  of  the  company,  there  arc  no  accounts 
to  be  placed  before  you,  and  no  resolutions  to  be 
]iroposed,  and  we  sliall,  therefore,  coniine  our- 
selves to  giving  you  all  the  information  that  lies 
in  our  power  and  is  likely  to  interest  you  about 
what  we  are  doing  to  continue  the  prosjierity  and 
promote  the  future  welfare  of  the  company.  The 
coinjiany  was  duly  registered  on  October  Titli, 
and  the  prospectus  ha\'ing  been  issued  the  shares 
were  at  once  all  applied  for,  the  preference  being 
largely  over-subscribeil — 1 may  say  about  six 
times  the  amount  aske<l  for — and  all,  both 
jireference  and  ordinary,  have  been  allotted.  Me 
liave  now  322  sharehoiders  on  tlie  register.  A 
Stock  Exchange  settlement  and  ollicial  ([notation 
of  the  shares  in  the  list  have  been  granted  by 
the  committee  of  that  association.  l>y  the  terms 
of  the  agreement  with  the  \endors  they  (the 
vendors)  were  entitled  to  receive  interest  at  the 
rate  of  (5  per  cent,  per  annum,  from  the  time  at 
xvhich  tneir  accounts  were  last  made  up  until 
the  jiayment  of  such  [ro|)ortion  of  the  purchase 
money  as  they  were  to  receive  in  cash  lunl  been 
made.  Your  directors,  therefore,  deeuKjd  it  advis- 
aVde  to  at  once  satisfy  them,  and  accordingly  they 
arranged  a loan  witli  the  ((ompiiny’s  bankers  to 
enable  this  to  be  done,  thereby  eilecting  epn- 
siderablc  saving  in  llie  matter  of  interest.  I lie 
loan  has  .^ince  been  ))aid  oil.  I'iie  ([.lestion  of 
garden  management  at  Afookliamcherra  and 
Uoolabchcrr.i,  'which  estates  adjoin  one  another, 
having  been  careiully  considered,  it  was  deemed 
inadvi.sable  to  distur'b  existing  arrangements  at 
[u-e.sent,  but  your  directors  consider  that  at  some 
near  future  date  one  sui)crintendent  for  bolii 
divisions  will  be  suilicient,  and  tliereby  some  saving- 
in  the  management  expenses  will  be  ellected. 
Now,  as  to  the  Ceylon  projierties,  you  arc  aware— 
as  it  was  stated  with  the  “ Particulars  of  ])ro- 
])erties  to  be  ac(|uircd  by  tlie  company”  sent  out 
with  the  [n-ospectus— that  with  regard  to  Walawa- 
dowa  Kstate(  that  after  it  had  been  ac(|uired, 
the  Ceylon  Covernment  being  anxious  that  this 
block  should  not  be  opened  uj),  had  agreed  to 
an  exchange  of  the  .same  for  other  lands,  to  be 
approved  by  ourseU  es  as  e([ually  suitable  fm'  the 
company’s  [(urposes,  in  the  [U'oportion  of  three 
acres  io  one,  and  by  this  arrangement  the  com- 
))any  will  aciiuire  3,dl9  acres  of  suitable  land, 
instead  of  1,173,  at  the  same  price  as  tliey  were 
to  have  paid  for  the  smaller  r[uantity.  With  re- 
ference to  this,  on  December  15  Mr.  Davidson, 
our  colleague  and  resident  director  in  Ceylon, 
wrote  us  that  with  the  tlovernment  insi)ector  he 
had  seen  some  very  suitable  blocks  of  land  which 
we  could  accept  in  exchange,  but  owing  to  the 
Hoods  of  rain  that  were  falling,  it  was  im[)0.ssible 
to  "o  fully  into  details  with  that  gentleman,  bub 
he  ” adds  : “I  purpose,  when  the  weather  has 
cleared  in  January,  and  after  getting  Covern- 
ment’s  re])ly  to  the  various  points  alluded  to, 
to  take  the  matter  in  hand  again,  and  remain 
on  the  si)()t  till  the  selection  of  land  to  be  ex- 
ehan<'-ed  has  been  careiully  comideted  ; and  vith 
](roi)er  outlet  roads,  well-.selectcd  land,  free  from 
wind  as  far  as  possible,  and  good  supervisi()n, 
tlie  [U'operties  of  tlie  East  India  and  (,<eylon  lea 
Conipai^/  in  this  district  will,  I believe,  pay  hand- 
somely.” You  will  be  sorry  to  hear  that  since 
Avritinj^  this  IVIr.  Uuvidsoii  luis  been  sciiously  ill, 
and  has  therehire  been  unalde  up  to  the  present 
to  carry  out  the  intentions  expressed  in  his  letter. 
In  the  meantime,  on  the  Hapugastenne  Estate  we 
have  been  clearing  the  land  with  all  pos.silde  .speed, 
a manager  has  been  appointed,  and  we  hope  to 
have  at  least  3U0  acres  [danted  out  during  the 
en.'uing  season.  On  the  whole,  the  reports  from 
all  tlm  gardens  and  estates  are  satisfactory.  The 
cro|)  to  November  30th,  1895,  the  date  of  the 
closing  of  our  linancial  year  from  the  various 
dates  at  which  the  company  took  over  the  pro- 
perties, amounted  to  158,000  lb.  in  excess  of  the 
crop  yielded  by  the  estates  during  the  corres- 
[londiiig  perioils  of  the  [u-evious  .sea.son.  The 
estimates  tor  the  ensuing  season  are  satisfactory, 
and  point  to  a further  increase  in  crop.  Pro- 
bably the  most  unsatisfactory  feature  with  which 
we  iiavc  to  deal  is  the  low  luice  ruling  for  tea 
on  the  lamdon  market,  but  even  in  tliis  direc- 
tion there  is  room  for  a more  sanguine  feeling, 
as,  certainly  since  the  turn  of  the  year  there 
has  been  a continuous  hardening  of  the  market, 
and  we  look  hoiiefully  to  some  further  ini[)rove- 
ment  in  this  direction.  While  on  this  subject 
1 may  say  that  we  are  able  to  give  you  the 
gratifying  information  that  we  have  slii[)ped  about 
1,7UU  chests  of  the  company’s  produce  to  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  it  is  obvious  tiiatit  must  be 
t'le  wish  of  your  directors  to  encourage  trade  in 
tiiis  ([uarter  to  tlie  utmost.  Anything  that  tends  to 
relieve  the  London  market  of  the  great  pressure 
of  .supidies  that  at  times  takes  place  cannot  fail 
to  be  in  our  interests.  (.Applause.)  Some  thirty 
year.s’  experience  of  the  tea  market  has  taught 
me  to  be  chary  of  ])rophesying  as  to  its  future 
lluetuations,  but  I have  sficn  (luring  that  [)criod 
an  increase  in  consunpdion  so  remarUable  that 
I do  not  for  a munumt  (k>ubt  its  coniinned  ex- 
pansion and  the  ever-growing  success  and  [uos- 
[lerity  of  the  East  India  and  Ceylon  Tea  Com- 
pany. 
fu  rejily  to  ([uestions  trom  shareholders,  the 
Chairman  stated  that  the  1,709  chests  shi]i[)ed 
to  America  had  been  sold  at  satisfactory  ju-ices 
as  com[)arc(l  with  those  ruling  on  the  London 
market.  The  bulk  of  the  tea  thus  shipped  was 
sold  from  samples  sent  from  this  country.  J'he 
average  price  of  their  tea  in  the  London  market 
was  about  7.'|d  [ler  lb.  ^\^ith  regard  to  the  labour 
([uestion  they  had  received  excellent  accounts. 
The  two  Imlian  places  where  the  coolies  were  all 
imported  from  the  North  Western  Pro\inces  had 
never  been  in  any  dilliculcy  with  regard  to 
labour.  The  property  to  be  exciianged  w.as  un- 
develo|ied,  and  it  was,  of  course,  dillicult  to  saj’ 
how  much  ca))ital  it  would  take  to  bring  those 
pro[)crties  into  full  bearing,  but  ample  had  been 
ptovided  for  this  [uiipose  by  the  terms  of  the 
[trospectus. 
A vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman  was  [)ro- 
posed  by  Mr.  Scalch  and  duly  seconded. 
The  Chairman  having  brielly  resjmnded,  the 
proceedings  terminated.—//,  ti-  C.  Mail,  Feb.  14. 
THE  CEYLON  TE.\  AND  TIMP.EU  SYNDI- 
CATE, LD. 
AVe  learn  from  London  that  a .syndicate  hrs 
been  formed  there  to  [uirchase  the  i)ro[)erties  at 
LTdagama  in  which  Mr.  J.  Coryton  Roberts  and 
others  are  interested,  together  with  the  patent 
rights  of  certain  improvements  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  tea  chests.  The  name  of  the  syndicate 
is  the  Ceylon  Tea  and  Timb;  r Syndicate,  Ld., 
formed  with  th'  object  of  rocon.structing  into  or 
handing  ocer  to  a lai-ger  working  comi)any,  to 
[daut,  so  it  is  i)r()[)osed,  a large  acreage  of  the 
land  in  tea  ; this  to  be  extended  by  degrees  to 
other  dcvoloinncnts  as  far  as  the  directors  may 
