i8o 
riiE  TROPICAl.  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1896. 
sanguine  had  no  reason  to  hope  lor  and  pc-ihapB  r.c\er 
dreamt  of  twenty-li\e  years  ago  ( r even  nivc}i  more 
recently.  Mr.  Boy  sen  has  Uil.curcd  ioi’  ihirly  years 
for  the  Bank,  and  is  irct  a jcung  man.  lie,  more 
even  than  the  sliareholdti  s,  has  every  ur-LOti  lo  he 
highly  gratified  with  the  result.  IMay  he  !(-■  g enjoy 
his  well-earned  repose.  It  is  ijuite  tri'e  ih '.t  j-eihai's 
not  a single  shareholder  irr  rh.e-  rceiiii,  1 ei-  lainly 
excepting  Mr.  Boysoir  hiirrscit.  uhepv;,'  were 
not  present),  carr  have  much  idea  oi  wik-I  is  the 
fair  value  of  the  Bank’s  gardens,  hirt  nr;.ny  kirow 
what  the  result  of  working  them  in  tv*-  past  has 
Ireen,  and  in  the  firture  there  wiil  be  ui  .s  8.nd  df  v.us 
in  exchange,  markets,  and  all  the  otlnr  I’isks  that 
have  hitherto  had  to  he  encountered  in  r;eroci  to 
management,  labour,  blights,  etc.,  (tc.  Tin  cl  ;aiees  are 
the  gardens  would  be  no  better  rrmnaged /'e/' //»  •).■;  than 
they  have  been  in  the  past,  and,  though  it  is  to  be 
hoped  times  may  be  better  the  chances  are,  I think 
pretty  certairr  they  shall  be  worse,  It  is  not  un- 
likely that  the  practical  advisers  of  the  purchasers 
know  the  advantages  and  capabilities  of  tho  widely 
scattered  gardens  all  over  a great  deal  botlci  than 
anyone  else.  Be  it  so.  It  cannot,  hov.ever,  be  de- 
nied they  are  paying  a very  fair,  what  would  seenr 
even  a very  full,  price  for  them,  and  everyone,  irr- 
cluding  the  L.M.B.  shareholdi  rs,  nn-.y  cordially  wish 
the  purchasers  every  success  in  their  inveslment, 
that  can  be  achieved  by  more  skiltul  arrd  cfiicient 
working  of  its  gardens. 
CONSOLID.VrED  TJ'.A  AND  LANDS  CO. 
Little  more  has  transpired  regarding  Sir  John  Muir’s 
monster  company.  I have  h.eard  it  said  by  those 
who  should  be  best  informed  oui.-udr,  that  the  two 
millions  of  capital  was  subscribed  several  times  over  ! 
I saw  in  the  morrey  colurnrr  of  one  ct  our  daily 
papers,  that  “the  first  bat'lr  of  kttiro  of  allot- 
ment and  regrets”  had  been  posted.  Tlu  irgh  that  is 
some  time  ago,  1 have  noticed  or  learired  of  no  other 
intimation  in  the  Press.  It  i.s  also  riuiiourcd  that 
several  large  applicants  have  beerr  allotted  two  or 
three  shares  each,  and  I have  seerr  it  quoted  that 
each  class  of  shares,  1st  and  2rrd  ITefeienco  and 
Ordinary  are  already  quoted  at  .tlj  to  premiums 
each  ! So  much  evidently  for  the  increasing  eager- 
ness of  the  sanguine  investing  public  for  tea  shares. 
FURXrLEE  SALES  AND  NEW  COJU’ANIES. 
Nothing  seetrrs  to  trarrspirc  as  to  who  arc  to  be  the 
bidders  for  the  Dootercah  concern  to  be  exposed  at 
auctiorr  in  a few  days.  Messrs.  Dirrrcau  Bros,  were 
the  highest  bidders  formerly.  It  can  do  no  bar  m for 
me  to  hazard  a few  remarks,  as  long  before  this  can 
reach  you  the  matter  must  bo  finally  settled.  Nolbing 
has  been  mooted  in  regard  to  Sir  .loin.  Muir  in  this 
connection,  but  if  the  present  owners  do  not  con- 
sider it  too  good  a thing  to  let  slip  from  them,  or 
even  if  they  do  I should  he  iuclined  to  back  the 
chances  of  Sir  John  Muir,  who  up  to  date  has  the 
record  as  a purchaser  in  Barjeeiing  since  the  IStiS 
days,  to  the  advantage  of  ono  of  the  mo.st  deserv^edly 
respected  citizens  Darjeeling  ever  knew.  But  1 do 
not  speculate  so  much  on  that,  as  I rcly^  upon  the 
universal  truth  of  the  saying  of  a shrowd  friend  in 
one  of  the  tea  countries  that  “when  a man  once 
gets  fairly  smitten  with  the  land  fever  (in  conpettiqn 
with  tea  sepecially),  there  is  no  satisfying  him  till 
he  gets  laid  in  it  himself.”  Of  course  there  i.->  this  in 
favour  of  the  present  partners,  that  they  will  only 
have  the  half  of  the  purchase  money  to  find ; and 
as  the  bidding  progress,  they  must  know  better 
than  others  when  the  point  has  been  turned  that 
makes  it  safer  for  them  to  be  sellers  than  buj'ers, 
I,  however,  back  the  honorable  Baronet  (if  he  really 
cares  for  the  property)  and  his  frii  nds.  With  tho 
“L.M.B.,”  “D.B.B.,  ’ “ K.I'.B.”  arul  “ 'T.B.B.” 
and  Bloomfield  combined  irr  one  ii'.onster  Dar  jeeling 
Company,  it  wenki  aiiiour;t  ainroc!  to  a monopoly, 
and  the  Darjeeling  Ccmj.any,  and  its  tin^c;  hoi  ored 
Managing  Director,  Mr,  llobcrts,  would  be  nowhere. 
Of  course  men  of  capital  and  cnloi  prise  like  Sir 
John  Muir  do  an  immcnce  deal  of  goou  to  tho 
natives  of  India  and  the  country,  and  in  the  long 
run  even  to  the  tea  industry,  which  the  weak,  timid 
and  narrow-minded  fear  he  is  about  to  swamp  through 
tho  inoguitude  of  his  undertakings. 
The  prospectus  of  the  Darjeeling  Consolidated  Tea 
Company,  Limited,  that  has  been  formed,  as  I before 
mentioned,  to  take  over  your  Calcutta,  Balasun,  Gyaba- 
ICC,  Sii  gLulli  and  Miurnah  and  Ting  Ling  Companies 
of  Darjeeling,  is  expected  to  bo  issued  daily.  The  ca- 
pital is  to  be  .£120,000  lialf  in  5 per  cent,  cumulative 
preference  shares,  half  in  ordinary  shares. 
Another  new  company  is  reported  as  boing_  formed 
to  purchase  the  splendid  estates  of  the  Borjuli  Tea 
Company  and  the  Dapoota  Tea  Comprany  in  Assam, 
and  certainly  extraordinary  general  meetings  of  the 
shareholders’  of  these  tw  o companies  have  been  sum- 
moned to  take  into  consideration  the  proposals  to 
purchase  the  properties  of  these  two  companies  as 
going  concerns  from  1st  January  180(5.  The  prices 
named  are  .£188,945  for  the  former  and  .£(5:4,000  for 
the  latter,  the  respective  capitals  for  which  the  con- 
cerns were  floated  for  about  two  years  ago  being 
.£120, Coo  and  .£41,000  respectively. 
What  is  to  be  the  next  surpirise?  Or  is  tea  cotn- 
parry  promotion  destined  soon  to  have  some 
pite?  May  all  end  well  for  the  confiding  inv^®ting 
public.  Up  till  a very  few'  years  ago  it  could  be  as 
serted  that  almost  as  much  had  been  lost  as  ever 
was  made  irr  Indian  tea,  and  that  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  the  gains  had  been  through  coirrpany-promo- 
tiou  and  the  “ turn-over  ” of  companies  and  shares 
May  the  same  not  have  to  be  said  four  or  five  years 
hence  ? — Indian  Planters’  Gazette,  Aug.  1. 
THE 
TEA  ESTATES 
LIMITED. 
OF 
ASSOCIATED 
CEYLON, 
With  a caprital  of  £150,000,  divided  into  8,(X)0  six 
per  cent  cuirrulative  prrefererree  shares  of  £10  each  and 
7,000  ordinary  shares  of  £10  each,  the  Associated 
Tea  Estates  of  Ceylon,  Limited,  has  been  forrrred 
to  take  over  as  going  concerns,  and  to  amalgamate 
under  one  management,  the  following  tea  estates 
in  Ceylon,  arrd  to  prurebase  further  estates  as  oprpor- 
tunity  offers:  Chesterford,  Kelaui  Valley;  Dnkiu- 
field,  Uda  Bussellaw'a;  Dors'galla,  Pussellawa  ; Ilora- 
goda,  Kalutara;  and  Maduitenne,  Keiani  Valley. 
The  prospectus  states  that  a feature  in  the  selection 
of  the  estates  is  the  distribution  over  high  and  low 
country,  the  prroprerties  ranging  from  Uda  Bussellawa, 
at  on  elevatioir  of  5,500  feet,  to  the  Kelaui  Valley 
with  an  elevatron  of  450  feet  above  sea  level.  This 
should  lead  to  a more  uniform  aggregate  result  than 
by  having  a series  of  properties  all  in  one  locality. 
There  is  ample  factory  accommodation  for  present 
requirements  upon  the  estates,  and  there  is  arr  ex- 
perienced staff  of  officials  and  employees,  which  will 
be  taken  over  by  the  company,  so  that  the  busi- 
ness will  be  carried  orr  without  airy  break  in  its 
continuity  The  price  to  be  paid  for  the  five  estates 
above  mentioned  has  been  fixed  by  the  vendors  at 
£103,720,  leaving  a balance  of  £6,280  out  of  the  pre- 
sent issue  available  for  working  capital,  the  vendors 
agreeing  to  pay  all  the  expenses  in  connection  with 
the  formation  of  the  company  down  to  allotment. 
The  directors  of  the  company  are : Sir  Alexander 
Wilson  (chairman  of  the  Mercantile  Bank  of  India, 
Limited),  London,  S.  II.  Earle,  Esq.  (director  of 
Alsiug  and  Co.,  Limited),  and  John  McEvvan,  Esq,, 
(of  the  Allynugger  Tea  Company,  Limited.) — JI.  C, 
JIail,  July  24. 
INDIA  AND  CEYLON  TEA  COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
With  a capital  of  .£609,000  in  300,000  prrcferenco  and 
30,000  ordinary  shares  of  £10  each,  tho  India  and  Cey- 
lon Tea  Company,  Ijimited,  has  been  formed  to 
acquire,  and  combine  under  ono  management,  the 
following  going  tea  concerns,  whicli,  cxcoptiiig  the 
Ceylon  properties,  are  taken  over  from  January  1 
last:— (1)  In  Assam:  The  properties  of  tho  Borjuli 
and  Dapoota  Tea  Companies.  (2)  In  tho  Dooars : 
The  piroperties  of  the  Good  Hope  and  Kiimali  Tea 
Gompanies  and  tho  llaiha  I’atlia  and  Dangua  Jhar 
I'lbtxtcs.  (3)  In  Ceylon:  Tho  Lebanon  group  of  tea 
gardens  and  Iho  Knuckles  group.  Tho  total  area  of 
1 
