May  I,  X896.J 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
Coiiimereial  Comi);iny,  with  the  result  that  to 
non-expert  readers  tlieir  accounts  may  i»ossil)Iy 
be  cliliicult  of  full  cumprelieusiou  and  cstinuitiou. 
TIIK  NAll.VLMA  TEA  INSTATE  CO. 
Die  report  of  the  IS’ahalma  Tea  Itslate 
Company,  was  presented  yesterday  at  the  annual 
general  meeting  of  the  shareholders.  (We  ))iib- 
lished  it  a few  days  ago — ho.  0.0  An  interim 
dividend  of  3 per  cent  was  paid  in  October  last, 
and  a further  one  of  5 percent  is  now  propo.sed, 
making  a total  of  8 per  cent  for  the  year,  free 
of  income  tax.  Provision  is  also  made  for  i)!ac- 
ing  £625  to  the  credit  of  the  Debentuie  lledcmp- 
tion  Fund,  while  £168  goes  towards  the  ex- 
])en.se  of  a new  turbine  erected  last  year.  With 
these  two  jirovisions-  taken  into  account  the  divi- 
dend wouhl  appear  a very  .satisfactory  one. 
.Somewhat  exceptionally,  the  tea  croj)  of  1865 
exceeded  the  estimate  made  of  it,  the  excess 
being  nearly  36,000  lb.  The  estimate  of  the 
])resent  year’s  crop  is  240,000  lb.  Testimony  is 
borne  by  the  report  to  the  substantial  character 
of  the  new  turbine  erected  by  Messrs,  AYalker 
.Sons  A'  Co.  of  Colombo  and  Kandy. 
A third  report  sent  you  liy  this  mail  is  that  of 
THE  tCELANI  VALLEY  TEA  ASSOCIAITO.v, 
published  on  Wednesday  last.  It  proposes  to  the 
shareholders  a linal  dividend  of  10  j)er  cent  (free 
of  income  tax).  An  interim  di\itlend  of  5 per 
cent  was  paid  in  Se|)tembcr  last,  so  that  the  total 
division  for  the  year  will  amount  to  15  ()cr  (u.mt. 
Put  in  addition  to  this  very  substantial  jiayment 
the  sharehoklers  are  to  obtain  a bonus  of  2i  ]jer  cent 
(also  free  of  income  tax),  so  the  profit  for  the 
year  will  be  represented  by  ITf  (ler  cent,  a result 
upon  which  all  interested  may  well  congratulate 
themselves.  That  this  result  could  be  obtained 
after  setting  aside  £2,000  of  the  year’s  profits 
towards  the  clearance  of  a mortgage  on  one  of 
the  Company’s  estates,  is  sullicient  to  demon- 
strate the  soundness  of  its  financial  position,  a 
demonstration  the  general  investing  public  will 
not  fail  to  ap])reciate  when  considering  invest- 
ment in  your  tea  euter[irize.  The  crop  secured 
is  reiiorted  to  have  been  largely  in  excess  of 
the  estimate,  having  been  597,185  lb.  as  against 
525,000  11).  only.  The  increase  as  compared  with 
1894  is  180,538  1b.  Further  extension  of  clearing 
for  tea  '])lanting  is  announced. 
One  of  the  Indian  Tea  Companies,  the  Palijan, 
has  also  issued  its  leport  this  week.  It  ))roposes 
a 5 per  cent  dividend  which  added  to  the  in- 
terim division  of  like  amount  will  make  a total 
of  10  per  cent  for  the  year. — London  Cor. 

MARKET  FOlt  TEA  SHARES. 
Thursday  evening,  March  26th,  1896. — A strong 
buying  inquiry  still  characterises  the  market  in  Indian 
tea  companies’  shares,  and  again  the  “ official  List  ” 
shows  advances  in  no  less  than  eight  of  the  quoted 
shares,  while  in  some  cases,  notably  that  of  the 
Assam  Company,  shares  cannot  be  had  even  at  the 
higher  quotations  in  the  list. 
SliNciNG  Lane  closes  steady  to  firm  for  both  Indian 
and  Ceylon  tea,  and  most  of  the  former  are  now 
printed  as  “ last  of  the  season,”  so  that  there  can 
f)e  no  more  for  sale  for  two  or  three  months,  after 
which  the  new  season’s  te.'is  arrive. 
Feesii  Issues — Nothing  except  x)ccasional  transac- 
tions in  Uimbula  Valley  Profs,  at  ,L'6. 
Quoted  Shares. — East  India  and  Ceylon  Ordinary 
were  first  put  up  in  the  official  list  a fractional 
point,  then  put  down  again,  and  now  close  at  their 
previous  quotation,  without,  however,  any  actual 
business.  The  Prefs.  have  been  taken  at  13  3-8th, 
and  now  ask  more  money. 
76  I 
Cevi.ox'  Shakes. — C.  T.  P.  Co.  Ordinary  are  said 
to  have  changed  hands  at  an  even  higher  figure 
than  that  quoted  last  week,  while  the  Prefs.  are 
wanted  at  about  11. ~H.  and  C.  Mini,  March  72. 
THE  TEA  MARKET. 
The  Tea  market  is  slightly  firmer  on  the  week  for 
Pi'itish  growths,  as  supplies  have  not  been  on  a 
large  scale,  and  for  Indian  the  season  is  over.  China 
Tea  is  neglected,  for  quality  is  of  the  poorest,  and 
some  rubbish  sold  down  to  lid.  per  lb.  What  is 
wanted  is  Tea  suitable  for  home  consumption,  not 
the  ideal  Russian  style.  New  Travancore  Teas  are 
arriving,  and  are  of  useful  description.  The  late 
report  of  Acting  Consul  Fox,  Wenchow,  shows  that 
China  Tea  can  be  produced  to  compete  successfully 
.with  that  of  India  and  Ceylon.  He  states  ;—Plack 
Tea,  costing  $14  to  $16  per  picul  (which,  at  an  ex- 
change of  2s  3d  the  dollar,  costs  in  sterling  under 
3d  per  11).)  that  Chinese  made  large  profits,  an  im- 
porlant  statement,  and  of  encouragement  to  those 
engaged  in  the  trade.  P’rom  that  port  were  formerly 
shipped  the  Sinchiene  Kye  and  Flowery  Pekoe,  that 
obtained  notoriety  as  the  “Caravan  Teas”  sent 
overland  via  Kiachta  to  Russia  —L  and  C,  Express, 
Mach  27. 
PLANTING  AND  PRODUCE. 
The  United  States  and  the  Tea  Duty. — The 
enterprise  shown  by  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  planters 
in  pushing  tlie  sale  of  tea  in  the  United  States — 
of  which,  by  the  way,  w^e  shall  have  something  to 
say  next  week — has  perhaps  stimulated  the  movement 
for  increasing  the  import  duty  on  tea  in  America. 
A representative  committee  of  tea  importers  recently 
appeared  before  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  at 
Washington.  Mr.  Willard,  of  New  York,  recom- 
mended that  a specific  duty  be  imposed  upon  im- 
portations of  tea,  sufficient  to  correct  certain  evils 
which  could  not  be  avoided  under  present  regulations. 
He  pointed  out  that  today  the  consumer  paid  the 
retailer  nearly  as  much  per  pound  for  tea  as 
in  1873,  but  received  tea  of  much  interior  quality. 
A duty'  would  retard  the  importation  of  poor 
tea.  Mr.  Mead  slated  that  a duty  of  from 
10  to  15  cents  per  pound  would  be  sufficient. 
Mr.  Charles  U.  Sheperd  said  that  he  had  been 
experimenting  with  tea-raising  in  South  Carolina  for 
years.  Tea  could  be  grown  there,  but  not  to  com- 
pete with  the  low  grades  grown  abroad.  The  placing 
of  a duty  on  tea  would  make  its  cultivation  in  the 
Southern  States  probable  and  profitable. 
vVn  Old  Story. — The  idea  of  festering  the  culti- 
vation of  tea  in  the  Southern  States  by  imposing  a 
stiff  duty  on  the  importation  of  high  grades  of  tea 
would  naturally  commend  itself  to  the  American 
political  mind,  but  the  idea  of  tea  cultivation  as- 
suming anything  like  the  proportion  in  the  Southern 
States  is  not  an  alarming  prospect.  Apropos  of 
American  tea  cultivation,  there  used  to  be  a story  told 
in  Mincing  Lane  on  this  subject.  It  was  to  the  effect 
that  one  morning  a well-known  firm  of  brokers  re- 
ceived a mpterious  package,  which  proved  to  bo  two 
or  three  pill  boxes  containing  something  which,  on 
being  looked  at  through  a microscope,  turned  out  to 
be  tea.  It  had  been  grown  in  one  of  the  Southern 
States  of  America,  and  the  grower,  who  had  a firm 
belief  in  himself,  his  country,  and  his  tea,  had 
delivered  himself  on  paper  of  a pious  aspiration  to  the 
effect  that  the  samples  sent  contained  evidence  of 
the  greatest  blessing  that  the  Almighty  had  ever 
bestowed  upon  the  American  people,  and  he  hoped 
that  Mincing  Lane  would  appreciate  the  samples. 
This  happened  some  years  ago,  and  a gross  or  two 
of  pill  boxes  would  perhaps  hold  all  the  American- 
grown  tea  now  produced.  But  the  American  people 
when  they  set  their  minds  on  an  enterprise  can 
accomplish  nearly  anything,  and  they  may  one  day 
conquer  the  difficulties  of  the  labour  question  and 
other  matters,  and  cultivate  tea  on  a large  scale.  But 
even  then  wo  will  hope  that  they  will  need  a 
