April  r,  1896.]  I'HK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
701 
THE  KUKUNEGALA  ESTATES  CO.  OF 
CEYLON. 
Tins  Company  is  beino;  formed  with  a capi- 
tal of  Rl, 000, 600  divided  into  1,000  shares. 
The  Company  is  purchasing;  tlie  following 
estates  ; — Amhapitia  for  R 14,000,  Bridstowe  for 
R61,tX)0,  Pattiakande  for  R85,000,  Matilda  Valley 
for  R7,000  and  Morretenne  for  R19,000.  The 
Agents  and  Secretaries  of  the  Company  are  to 
he  Messrs.  Lee,  Hedges  & Co.,  and  the  Proctors 
Messrs.  Julius  & Creasy. 
The  properties  have  been  valued  at  R201,450,  and 
R186,000  is  the  amount  to  be  paid.  Of  this  the 
various  vendors  take  R160,000  in  fully-paid-up  shares 
ranking  for  dividend  from  the  1st  of  January,  1898, 
and  the  balance  in  cash.  Only  2,400  other  shares 
are  to  be  issued  at  present,  payable  as  follows  R20 
on  application,  R20  on  allotment  ; R20  on  January 
1st,  1897,  and  the  balance  a year  later.  During  the 
next  three  years  it  is  intended  to  open  up  (iOO  acres 
in  tea  and  coconuts,  and  by  degrees  to  plant  up  all 
the  estates  as  far  as  possible  with  these  products  and 
wi  h Liberian  coffee  and  cocoa.  No  dividends  are 
to  be  paid  for  the  first  three  years;  but,  after  that, 
very  profitable  returns  may  be  looked  for. 
COFFEE  PLANTING  AT  KLANG. 
To  the  Editor. 
Dear  Sir, — In  the  interests  of  prospective,  as  well 
as  actual,  proprietors  of  Klang  land  in  other  countries 
I trust  you  will  permit  me  to  point  out  that  although 
some  thousands  of  acres  in  this  district  may  be 
“peaty”  and  at  present  unsuitable  for  planting,  by 
far  the  larger  proportion  is  excellent  land  in  every 
respect.  Owing  to  the  unfortunate  fact  that  almost 
the  entire  area  disposed  of  at  the  two  auction  sales 
was  of  the  undesirable  character  which  has  since  led 
several  buyers  to  temporarily  suspend  operations,  it 
seems  not  improbable  that  the  coffee  enterprise  in 
Klang  will  in  future  be  eyed  with  disfavour  so  extreme 
that  the  men  who  stick  to  their  guns  will  be  regarded 
by  the  uninitiated  as  little  better  than  lunatics  ; 
— not  that  this  will  affect  them  much,  as  the  laugh 
will  be  on  their  side  in  the  end, — but  it  seems  a 
pity  that  so  erroneous  an  impression  should  get 
abroad  and  remain  uncontradicted,  and  that  the 
development  of  a really  agricultural  district  should 
be  retarded  for  so  insufficient  a cause. 
It  cannot,  I think,  be  denied,  in  view  of  the  dis- 
astrous effect  which  the  recent  severe  extremes  of 
wet  and  heat  have  had  upon  the  already  planted 
coffee,  that  this  peaty  land  must  be  allowed  to  settle 
and  consolidate  under  the  influence  of  the  elements 
before  it  can  be  safely  cultivated,  but  that  it  is 
purely  a question  of  time  is  manifested  from  the  fact 
that  the  Datu  Dagang’s  field,  which  is  always  quoted 
as  the  finest  coffee  in  the  State,  is  growing  on  soil 
precisely  similar,  but  now  settled  down  and  dry. 
On  the  other  hand  equally  recently  planted  coffee, 
growing  in  stiff  clav  over  a far  larger  area  than 
that  which  has  now  been  abandoned,  may  be  seen 
in  twenty  different  directions,  flourishing  vigorously 
and  full  of  vitality  and  promise ; and  there  is  no 
getting  over  the  fact  that  one  of  our  Ceylon  visitors 
who  has  recently  stopped  work  on  his  present  block, 
has  put  in  five  fresh  applications  for  land,  for  wet 
land  too,  and,  curiously  enough,  land  situated  in 
Klang. 
To  put  the  case  in  a nutshell,  there  is  an  abun- 
dance of  good  planting  soil  in  the  district  and  some 
which  requires  time  to  settle  and  which,  if  opened 
straight  away,  has  been  found  wanting  when  sub- 
jected to  drastic  climatic  trials. 
Any  amount  of  draining,  whilst  it  would 
of  course  have  helped  the  peaty  land  to  con- 
solidate, would  never  have  rendered  it  fit 
for  immediate  planting,  but  it  is  none  the  less  a 
matter  of  the  greatest  regret  that  the  Government 
have  not  strictly  adhered  to  and  at  all  costs  carried 
out  their  advertised  drainage  guarantee. 
Sir  Charles  Mitchell’s  maiden  effort  at  land  reform 
has  not  proved  an  unqualified  and  brilliant  success, 
but  if  he  takes  to  heart  the  lesson  which  the  recent 
denouement  in  Klang  should  teach  him,  he  will  rea- 
lise that  to  make  a pile  in  coffee  is  not  by  any 
rneans  as  easy  or  certain  as  it  looks,  and  that  the 
planter,  it  must  also  not  be  forgotten,  is  a direct 
revenue  producer  through  the  export  duty  on  his 
coffee  alone  to  the  tune  of  from  ^4  to  #.5  annually, 
for  every  acre  of  forest  he  reclaims,  and  requires 
every  assistance  and  encouragement,  or  he  will  turn 
his  attention  elsewhere. — I am,  dear  sir,  yours 
faUhfully  E.  V.  Carey. 
Kuala  Lumpor,  March  8th,  1896. 
— S.  F.  Press,  March  II. 
IMPORTS  OF  COCOA  TO  THE  U.S.A. 
The  total  imports  in  1895  were  29,969,518  pounds 
valued  at  $3,198,659,  a gain  in  quantity  over  1894  of 
9,229,391  pounds.  South  America  furnished  16,127,046 
pounds,  of  which  4,160.000  pounds  came  from  Brazil. 
The  British  West  Indies  sent  9,555,537  pounds  ; other 
West  Indies,  546,220  pounds ; Central  America,  332.733 
pounds.  Europe  furnished  3,107,556  pounds.— A/aerican 
Grocer,  Feb.  19. 
THE  TEA  SUPPLY  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES. 
The  imports  in  1895  were  97,883,051  pounds,  a de- 
cree as  compared  with  1894  of  4,199,651  pounds. 
The  total  value  of  imports  was  $13,320,341.  The 
movement  for  the  year  was  as  follows  : — 
Pounds. 
Imports..  ..  ..  97,883,051 
Exports  768,143 
Net  imports  or  consumption  ..  97,114  908 
China  supplied  51,458,868  pounds,  or  nearly ’53  per 
cent,  of  the  total  imports  ; Japan,  39,914,508  pounds 
or  over  41  per  cent. ; United  Kingdom,  3,696,192  pounds’ 
all  other  countries,  2,813,483  pounds.— Grocer. 
Feb.  19. 
TEA  IN  AUSTRALIA. 
Tea.— There  has  been  a good  inquiry  for  China  tea, 
for  which  the  market  is  firm.  Sales  comprise  450 
half-chests  congou  at  4id  to  4Jd,  700  hali-ohests  pan- 
yong  at  5id,  450  half-chests  panyong  at  6d,  400quarter- 
chests  S.O.  pekoe  at  6id  to  6|d,  and  100  quarter- 
chests  buds  at  5Jd.  Of  Indians,  150  packages  have 
been  sold  at  7id  to  8d.  In  Ceylons,  100  packages 
have  been  sold  at  6id.  At  the  auction  sale  on 
Wednesday  there  was  good  competition  for  Indian 
tea  at  steady  rates,  the  better  grades  being  slightly 
firmer.  Out  of  445  chests  and  462  half-chests  offered 
sales  were  made  publicly  of  397  chests  and  462 
half-chests,  as  follows: — Choice  pekoe  and  orange 
pekoe,  lid  to  Is;  orange  pekoe,  67  chests  and  55 
half-chests  at  7d  to  8id ; pekoe,  37  cheats  and  120 
half-chests  at  6|d  to  7id;  pekoe  souchong,  260  chests 
and  166  half  chests  at  6id  to  7*d ; broken  pekoe 
souchong,  at  5 id.  Of  Ceylons,  238  chests  and  30 
half-chests  were  offered,  and  sales  were  made  of  152 
chests  and  40  half-cheats  at  6^d  to  lOid.— Australasian 
March  7.  ’ 
INDIAN  PATENTS. 
Specifications  of  the  undermentioned  inventions 
have  been  filed,  under  the  provisions  of  Act  V 
of  1888. 
For  improvements  in  the  manufacture  of  tea  and 
in  apparatus  therefore.— No.  260  of  1890.— Samuel 
Cleland  Davidson,  of  Sirocco  Works,  Belfast,  Ireland 
merchant,  for  improvements  in  the  manufacture  of 
tea  and  in  apparatus  therefore.  (From  24th  March 
1896  to  23rd  March  1897.) 
For  fixing  the  bottoms  and  lids  of  boxes  and 
chests.  No.  153  of  1891. — Mr.  C.  Bald’s  invention 
for  fixing  the  bottoms  and  lids  of  boxes  and  chests 
used  in  packing  tea,  indigo,  opium,  coffee  or  other 
valuable  produce.  (Specifacation  filed  7th  December 
1891.) — Indian  and  Eastern  Engineer,  March  21. 
