4o8 
THE  TROPICAL 
of  our  putting  them  together “ The  present  lack 
of  more  general  acquaintance  and  intercourse  between 
the  different  colonies  is  probably  one  of  the  most 
serious  obstacles  no-w  existing  in  the  way  of  Fede- 
ration. 
NOTES  FllOM  THE  METliOEOLlS. 
(JKVnOX  TEA 
in  sales  this  week  had  rather  a clieck  tlirongli 
an  unexpectedly  large  oiler  of  “ Indians  ; 
hut  this  may  be  only  teniporaiy.  More  is 
thought  of  the  talk  of  a City  Syndicate  (of  the 
liuaneieis,  it  is  said)  banded  to  send  out  im- 
proved 
TEA  MACHINERY  TO  CHINA 
with  the  avowed  o'lject  of  preparing  and  .assort- 
ing riuna  tea  into  llroken  Peko(!s"  ;uid  Pekoes 
as  well  as  Souchong, s.  Many,  however,  doubt 
tlie  pro.s]iect  of  success  and,  indeed,  assert  that 
the  Hist  man  to  try  to  erect  sneh  machinery 
in  tlie  interior  will  soon  he  “a  head  the  shorter'’' 
l‘o:-sihly,  the  object  is  to  erect  a Factory  in  a 
treaty  town  on  the  coast.  At  any  rate  City 
men  do  not  often  give  money  without  some 
assurance  of  practical  work.  Then  there  is  some 
talk  again  of  what 
JAVA 
is  going  to  do  with  its  rich  soil,  good 
jfit  and  new  factories.  This  w'eek  some  Java 
teas  have  been  .selling  up  to  an  average  of  lOd 
and  lid;  hat  one  who  ought  to  know  assures 
me  that  Java  teas  are  more  likely  to  he  a rival 
to  strong  “Assams”  than  to  “Ce'ylons.”  Still, 
to  increase  the  quantity  of  Indian  quality  is  a 
serious  enough  prosjiect,  except  we  got  Anierica, 
Kussia  and  Australasia  to  take  off  a great  ileal 
more  and  oust  China  and  Jaiian. 
Mr.  G,  A Talbot  is  off  to 
RRAZIL 
to  see  for  himself  the  great  Dumont  Coflee  Com- 
pany’s plantations  and  much  interest  will  be  felt 
in  his  report : surprise  is  exprc.s.sed  that  tlie  attomjit 
was  not  made  some  time  ago  to  get  the  o|)inion 
of  the  Ob.s-ercer's  Drazil  corrc.^pomlent,  Mr.  A. 
Scott  lllacklaw,  now  one  of  tlie  oldest  Euro- 
jiean  residentsand  [dantingauthorities  from  Ceylon. 
A visit  to  the  new  oliices  of 
THE  CEYLON  ASSC  Cl .mON 
this  week  carried  me  up  to  the  tojmiost  story 
(by  a convenient  “lift”)  ol  a liand.some  block 
in  Gracecliurch-streel,  where  J found  Mr.  Leake 
very  comfortably  located  for  his  business  otiices,  and 
a commodious,  well-lighted  chamber  allotted  to 
the  Association.  It  is  marvellous  to  see  lioiv 
well  and  youthful  the  leading  Kandy  merchant 
and  planter  of  the  “lifties”  and  “ six tic.s ” con- 
tinues to  he.  Any  stranger  would  certainly  gne.s.s 
Mr.  Leake  to  he  ten  to  twelve  years  younger 
than  he  actually  i--.  Ills  career  has  been  an  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  as  well  as  u.seful  one  from 
school  and  college  days  onward.s,  and  I hope  it 
may  he  my  privilege  to  set  it  forth  in  the 
Tnmkcd  Afjriculturist  serie.s  of  Pioneers  erelong. 
I was  very  sorry  to  ini.ss  the  meeting  of  the 
NEW  DIMIiULA  RLANTATION  COMPANY, 
which  owes  so  much,  primarily  to  the  Ceylon 
Manager,  Mr.  Dick-Laudei’,  and  his  stall',  and 
next  to  the  Hoard  of  Directors  with  .Mr.  Ilcrliert 
,'\nderson  anil  to  the  .Secretary,  Mr.  Crabhe.  Put 
here  is  the  report  ot  the  proceedings  at  the  ineer- 
ing:  — 
the  new  dlmhula  cg.mfanv,  ld. 
Pveport  of  proceedings  of  the  twelfth  ordinary 
general  meeting,  held  at  No.  25,  Gracechurch  Street, 
AGRICULTURIST.  [Dec.  i,  1896. 
Ijondon,  on  Wednesday,  21st  October,  18t)B.  H. 
Bi’ooks,  Esq.,  in  the  chair. 
The  SECimxAiiY  having  read  the  notice  convening  the 
meeting,  and  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting,  held  on 
October  2;5rd  lHtl5. 
The  CiuiioiAx  said  : I have  now  to  move  that  the 
Report,  Balance  Sheet  and  Accounts  as  presented  by 
tlie  Directors  he  received  and  adopted.  The  Directors 
with  me  are  all  •,'ery  pleased  to  have  again  an  op]ior- 
tunity  of  meeting  the  .shareliolders  with  a Statement 
ot  Accounts  which  cannot  fail,  1 think,  to  give 
universal  satisfaction.  I am  pleased  to  say 
that  in  the  past  season  the  yield  of  tea  has  shown  a 
sati.sfactory  increase  upuu  tlie  previous  verr,  and 
reached  the  large  total  of  lUiO.OOO  lb.  and  this  is  one 
reason,  of  course,  for  the  improved  coiuhtion  of  our 
accounts.  I may  add  that  it  is  hoped  that  in  the 
present  season  the  yield  will  exceed  a million  pounds. 
Auotlicr  cuise  of  our  success  in  the  past  easou  iias 
been  the  improved  price  obtained  for  tea,  the  average 
net  price  of  the  whole  crop  having  exceeded  last 
year’s  price  by  I [d.  per  Ih.  On  the  other,  hand,  there 
has  been  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  about  jd.  per  lb. 
This,  however,  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the  whole 
ot  the  most  recently  planted  tea  is  now  included  in 
ttie  acreage  plucked.  At  the  elevation  of  this  estate 
young  tea  takes  a long  time  to  come  to  maturity, 
but  we  hope  as  the  yield  increases,  the  cost  will 
revert  to  something  near  its  previous  low  level.  I 
do  not  think  there  are  any  items  in  the  Accounts  which 
call  for  special  comment  from  me.  They  are,  I think, 
put  forward  in  a very  clear  manner.  It  may  possibly 
occur  to  some  of  the  shareholders  that  a larger  divi- 
dend might  have  been  paid,  but  in  view  ot  the  un- 
usually favorable  circumstances  of  the  past  season, 
your  Directors  think  that  the  most  prudent  course  is  to 
take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  add  to  the 
Reserve  Fund.  (Applause.)  I took  occasion  last  year 
to  call  attention  to  and  to  congratulate  the  share- 
holders upon  the  extinction  of  all  arrears  of  divi- 
dends upon  the  “B”  shares,  and  the  payment  of  a 
first  dividend  to  the  “C”  shareholders.  We  are  now 
launched  on  our  career  free  of  this  drag  of  arrears, 
and  have  now  completed  the  first  year  on  the  freer 
conditions,  and  I am  very  pleased  that  we  are  able 
to  p.ay  such  a satisfactory  dividend  as  that  which  is 
now  recommended,  and  my  earnest  wish  is  that  it 
may  be  continued  to  you  for  many  years  to  come. 
(Applause.)  I have  to  move  that  the  Report, 
Balance  Sheet  and  accounts  as  presented  by  the 
Directors  be  received  and  adopted. 
Sir  A.  N.  Biiicn,  k.c.m.o.,  having  seconded  the 
motion,  Mr.  James  Anderson  stated  that  he  thought  the 
accounts  exceeaingly  satisfactory.  He  gathered  from 
them  that  the  net  jirofit  amounted  during  the  year 
to  .T2;!,8r)2  IGs  ?>d  and  that  the  Company  had  in  hand 
after  paying  the  proposed  dividends  the  sum  of 
£18,702  iJs  2d,  including  ihe  Reserve  Account,  and 
that  the  outstanding  liabilities  only  amounted  to  a 
small  sum,  and  that  the  position  of  the  Company 
was  a very  strong  one,  and  he  did  not  see  the 
necessity  of  adding  to  the  Reserve  Fund,  but  thought 
it  would  he  more  satisfactory  if  larger  dividends  were 
paid.  He  also  referred  to  the  item  of  Coast  Advances 
which  he  thought  was  very  small  aud  reflected  great 
credit  ou  the  management. 
The  Chaiusiax  in  reply  stated  that  the  opinion  of 
the  Board  was  that  if  they  started  with  a dividend  of 
1(5  percent,  they  would  like  to  keep  it  up.  They  did  not 
want  to  start  with  a flourish  of  trumpets  and  pay  a 20 
per  cent.,  dividend  and  then  have  to  come  down  to  a 
1(5  per  cent.,  that  would  be  rather  derogatory  ; they 
liked  to  fee!  their  way  a little  carefully  to  begin  with, 
and  thoagli  there  could  ho  possible  objection  to  putting 
tlio  Company  on  a soli  d basis  besides  this  was  their  first 
year  011  the  altered  conditions  of  existance,  and  there 
were  other  reasons  why  they  should  bo  prepared  with 
a Reserve  Fund. 
The  resolution  was  put  to  the  Meeting  and  carried 
unanimouslv. 
The  Cu.uioiAN  then  moved:  That  a dividened  bo 
declared  of  H per  cent.,  per  annum  on  the 
“ ” and  “ 15  ” shares,  and  of  fl  per  cent.,  per 
annum  on  the  “ C ” shares,  for  the  year  ending 
June  yoth,  189(5;  and  that  an  additional  divideud 
