THE  TROPICAl 
AGRICULTURIST. 
June  i,  1896.] 
Mr.  R.  J.  Chippindall  and  Mr.  Henry  Atkinson 
proposed  a vote  of  thanks  to  the  chairm;i.ii  and  offi- 
cers, including  Mr.  E.  S.  Grig-son,  the  V.A.,  under 
whose  advice  were  made  the  purch.'.ses  of  the  com- 
pany's estates  that  liave  turned  oat  so  well.  An 
acknowledgment  of  the  vote  and  soma  interesting 
remarks  by  Mr.  Grigsou  terminated  the  proceedings. 
— 11,  and  C.  Mail,  April  ‘24. 
CEYLON  TEA  PLANTATIONS  COMPANY, 
LLM  TED. 
ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE  PREMIER 
COMPANY  OF  CEYLON. 
{Spccicd  Report  for  the  Ceylon  Observer.) 
'I’lio  .annual  meeting  of  the  sliareholders  took 
place  at  \Yinchester  House,  Old  llroad  St.,  on 
I'liursday,  Ai)iil  ‘JSid. 
Mr.  11.  K.  llutherford,  managiiig  director  took 
the  chair,  Hui>])ortetl  by  Mes.srs.  Kciil  aiul  Tod, 
Directors,  Sir  Win.  dohn.son  Hart  Secretary,  and 
Mr.  G.  A.  Talbot,  Eslatc.s  Manager  in  (nylon. 
Among  those  present  were  Messrs.  Ale.v.  IJrooke 
(of  Messr.s.  .1.  A.  Hadden  A Co.),  NV.  11.  Ander- 
son Dangerlield,  G.  A.  White,  Lee,  ^Y.  Mackenzie, 
Frank  Walker,  dolm  Ferguson,  J.  llussel  Grant, 
and  A.  G.  Stanton. 
The  Skckiotauv  read  the  notice  of  meeting 
and  report,  a copy  of  which  reached  you  by  last 
mail,  after  which  the  Chairman  spoke  as  follow.s, 
in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report : — 
Gentlemen, — I presume,  as  has  been  the  usual 
custom,  you  will  accept  as  read  the  Report  and 
Accounts  which  have  been  in  your  hands  ior  some 
time.  On  each  previous  occasion  when  we  met  you 
here,  the  Directors  have  had  the  pleasure  of  con- 
gratulating you  on  the  increased  prosperity  of  the 
Company’s  business,  and  the  Boaro,  in  laying  be- 
fore you  its  Ninth  Annual  Report,  considers  it 
highly  satisfactory  that  the  continuity  of  that  favour- 
able state  of  affairs  has  been  preserved.  The  Ac- 
counts shew  a net  profit  for  the  past  year  of  £51,927, 
or  £3,.S24  in  excess  of  that  of  1891.  The  year  which 
we  are  now  reviewing  was  on  the  W’hole  c«  favour- 
able one  as  regards  seasonable  weather  for  the  Tea 
busiies  giving  a good  crop  of  leaf,  and  you  w'ill  not 
fail  to  observe  that  the  yield  of  Tea  was  the  largest 
we  have  ever  reaped  being  at  the  rate  of  4o7  lb.  per 
acre  over  the  large  area  of  8,078  acres.  The  crop 
harvested  from  our  own  Estates  was  3,530,787  lb. 
being  -an  increase  of  over  half  a million  lb.  on  the 
crop  of  1894.  We  bought  green  leaf  from  which  we 
produced  065,003  lb.  of  tea,  and  we  manufactured 
tea  for  other  Proprietors  amounting  to  1,110,504  lb. 
these  two  sources  shewing  a decrease  of  78,000  lb. 
Our  Factories  altogether  turning  out  a totel  of 
5,300,904  lb.  of  tea.  The  gross  average  price  received 
lor  the  crop  was  8.09d  as  against  8.84d  in  the  pre- 
vious year  or  a fall  of  ^d  per  lb.  and  the  rate  of 
Exchange  15  18  3-32  d of  a penny  in  our  favour  as 
compared  with  1894. 
It  will  not  have  escaped  ymur  notice,  that  not 
only  the  price  of  tho  Company’s  teas  but 
of  all  teas  from  whatever  source  has  had  a 
downward  tendency  for  some  years  back.  This  need 
not  l‘e  a matter  of  surprise  when  we  consider  the 
largely  increased  quantities  being  produced  both  in 
India  and  Ceylon.  The  former  country  especially  is 
at  the  present  time  opening  out  large  areas  of  land 
under  tea,  and  we  must  therefore  look  for  a greatly 
increased  production  in  the  next  few  years  from  that 
quarter.  It  should,  however,  be  a matter  of  satisfac- 
tion to  all  interested  in  the  cultivation  of  British  grown 
teas,  to  note  the  extraordinary'  inerease  of  exports  to 
countries  other  than  Great  Britain.  For  the  year 
1895  these  countries  took  3Sg  million  lb.  of  Britisli 
grown  tea  or  33  per  cent,  in  excess  of  the  previous 
year,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  current  year  will  see 
a very  considerable  increase  on  these  figures.  This 
ever  widening  consumption  gives  us  hoxio  that  the  in- 
creased production  will  bo  taken  off  the  home  market 
8.^t 
and  the  further  decline  in  price  thereby  stayed.  The 
persistent  efforts  of  Ceylon  and  Indian  Growers  in 
IRishing  their  produce  in  foreign  and  colonial  markets 
should  not  however  be  allowed  to  slacken  and  if  stea- 
dily xrersevered  in,  may  be  crowned  with  a greater 
success  than  perhaps  any  of  us  at  present  foresee,  and 
it  is  very  possible,  we  may  be  able  to  look  back  on 
1895  as  tho  day  of  small  things,  and  that  we  then  had 
merely  touched  the  fringe  of  the  enormously  greater 
consumption  which  will  bo  found  for  British  grown 
teas  in  our  Colonies,  Russia,  and  America,  a few  years 
hence  Coming  back  to  the  more  immediate  affairs 
of  our  Comps  ny  perhaps  the  most  important  item  incur 
Accounts  calling  for  special  remark  is  our  Reserve  Fund. 
Last  year  this  stood  at  £50,000  and  we  now  propose 
to  increase  it  to  £70,000.  It  cannot,  I think,  be  de- 
nied that  it  is  in  large  measure  owing  to  our  having 
created  such  a substantial  Reserve  that  our  £10 
shares  stand  to-day  at  .£30.  The  Board  has  firmly 
adhered  lothc  policy,  indicated  to  you  some  years 
ago,  of  keeping  the  Reserve  entirely  free  from  the 
risks  of  our  Tea  business  and  the  Accounts  now  pre- 
sented to  you  show  you  how  this  money  is  employed. 
V/e  have  £35,741  in  Securities,  which  weiuld  if  realized 
bring  us  a substantial  profit,  and  the  balance  has 
been  utilized  in  tho  xiurchasc  and  development  of  our 
Coconut  properties.  When  we  made  our  first  invest- 
ment in  Uiase,  we  told  you  we  looked  upon  this  form 
of  employing  our  Reserve  as  an  eminently  safe  and 
remunerative  one,  and  the  Board  has  no  reason  to 
change  its  opinion.  As  the  sum  invested  has  reached 
a considerable  amount,  it  will  no  doubt  be  of  interest, 
if  I briefly  explain  our  position  with  regard  to  this 
product.  We  have  now  4 Coconut  Estates,  viz  : — Andi- 
gama,  Mawatte,  Jakwilla  and  Sirangapathe.  This 
latter  property  we  had  not  intended  purchasing  until 
the  beginning  of  this  year  and  so  bringing  it  into  the 
1896  Accounts,  but  as  other  parties  were  anxious  to 
buv  it,  we  had,  in  order  to  secure  it,  to  take  possession 
in  December  last.  This  Estate  is  equipped  with  ma- 
chinery of  the  most  approved  type  for  producing 
fibre,  and  it  comes  to  us  as  a going  concern,  for 
which  wo  paid  £19,411.  Our  manager  estimates  that 
for  the  current  year  it  will  yield  a return  of  nearly 
10  per  cent.,  on  this  outlay,  and  that  better  results 
are  likely  to  be  obtained  Fereafter,  when  we  have 
improved  the  Estate,  by  a higher  system  of  culti- 
vation. The  other  3 Estates  are  not  yet  yielding  re- 
turns, but  we  have  every  confidence  that  when  they 
come  into  bearing,  the  pirofits  will  be  satisfactory', 
Yv'e  have  arranged  to  x’h'ut  up  about  500  acres  with 
coconuts  this  year  out  of  our  available  forest  land. 
Engaged  as  w'e  are  in  Agriculture,  W'e  are  taught 
by  the  experience  of  every  country  and  the  vicissi- 
tudes which  surround  most  jnoducts  that  are  grown 
that  W'e  cannot  hope  to  escape  the  common  lot,  of 
having  less  prosperous  years  for  our  tea  in  the  course 
of  time.  It  is  therefore  needless  to  say  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  your  Directors  to  ]provide  in  the  good 
years  we  are  fortunate  at  x>teseut  in  having,  at'aiust 
the  possibility  of  bad  years.  The  fact  that  w’e  are 
lay  iug  out  half  the  Reserve  in  securities  and  half  in 
such  a safe  product  as  coconuts  tends  in  large 
measure  to  eliminate  the  speculative  element 
and  to  make  the  shares  in  this  Company  more' 
in  the  nature  of  an  Investment  with  an  ever-increas- 
ing security.  The  public  has  not  been  slow  to 
respond  to  the  evident  benefits  of  this  policy, 
and  shareholders  have  had  a very  solid  advantage  in 
the  increased  value  of  their  shares  as  a setoff  against 
any  larger  dividends  that  might  have  been  paid  them. 
The  capital  value  of  our  tea  properties  you  will  ob- 
serve is  £5,223  less  than  what  it  stood  at  the  pre- 
vious year.  There  have  been  some  minor  additions 
to  capital  values,  but  the  decrease  is  practically  all 
accounted  for  by  the  amount  written  off  for  depre- 
ciation. and  the  sale  of  Balgownie  estate.  Allowing 
for  the  reserve ; the  amount  at  credit  of  brought 
forward ; and  the  sum  set  aside  for  depreciation,  our 
tea  properties  stand  at  £25  per  acre  fully  equipped 
in  every'  respect. 
As  you  arc  aware,  we  have  always  refrained  from 
laying  before  you  our  estimates  of  the  cuiTent  year 
and  you  have  invaiiably  been  content  to  receive 
the  assurance  of  tho  board  that  your  properties  are 
being  cultivated  and  eared  for  m such  a inannej 
