Feb.  I,  1897.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
539 
Olivier  as  secretary  to  the  Commission  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain gives  up  his  own  private  secretary — one  who 
before  receiving  that  post  had  been  engaged  at  the 
Colonial  Office  in  the  West  Indies  Department. 
Finally,  for  an  expert  adviser  on  cutivation  questions 
the  Commission  will  have  the  services  of  Mr.  Morris, 
from  Kew  Gardens. 
A Vehy  Trying  Position. — Even  the  o.rdent  lovers 
of  Free  Trade  will  admit  that  the  condition  of 
most  of  our  sugar  growing  colonies  calls  for  sym- 
pathy. Although  British  Guiana  is  developing  its 
mining  industry  as  rapidly  as  circumstances  admit, 
sugar  and  its  by-products  are  understood  to 
account  for  92  per  cent,  of  the  total  exports,  in  Bar- 
bados for  94  per  cent.,  and  in  St.  Kitts,  St.  Lucia, 
St.  Vincent,  and  other  smaller  islands  for  about  the 
same  proportion.  In  Jamaica  the  sugar  exports  are 
still  60  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  and  even  in  Trinidad, 
where  a pitch  lake  is  a valuable  asset,  sugar  is  the 
largest  product.  The  colonies  do  not  suffer  from  a 
lessened  power  of  production  or  from  a falling  off  in 
demand.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  the  annual 
reduction  of  cane  sugar,  most  of  it  West  Indian, 
as  increased  from  2,200,000  to  2,904,000,  tons,  and 
the  annual  consumption  by  the  whole  world  has 
increased  from  3,8.90,000  to  7,879,000  tons.  The  im- 
mediate cause  of  the  depression  of  the  trade  in  the 
West  Indies  is,  of  course,  the  increased  production 
and  the  artificially  sustained  cheapness  of  beet  sugar 
in  non-British  countries.  The  output  of  beet  sugar 
has  risen  in  the  fifteen  years  from  1,630,000  to  4,975,000 
tons.  According  to  the  evidence  given  before  a 
colonial  Commission  in  1894,  the  cost  of  producing 
both  the  cane  and  the  beet  sugar  was  greater  than 
the  current  price.  A ton  of  cane  sugar,  it  was 
stated,  cost  *14  15s  lOd  to  produce,  and  fetched 
£13  19s  2d,  while  a ton  of  beet  sugar  cost  £9  and 
fetched  £8  15s.  For  the  beet  sugar  producers  the 
loss  was  turned  into  profit  by  bounties  from  their 
Governments,  amounting  in  1894  to  £4,290,000.  The 
loss  to  the  West  Indian  growers  might  have  been 
saved,  nevertheless,  if  consumption  had  been  given 
free  play.  But  the  bounty-giving  Government  are 
also  Protectionist  in  the  commoner  sense  of  the  term. 
By  protective  duties  on  foreign  sugar  France  helps 
to  keep  down  the  average  annual  consumption  of 
sugar  by  each  of  her  inhabitants  to  281b  a head. 
Germany  to  261b  a head,  and  Austria  to  17lb  a head. 
Were  all  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  consuming  sugar, 
like  Englishmen,  at  the  annual  rate  of  731b  apiece, 
our  West  Indian  growers  might  still  make  shift  to 
live,  but  they  are  very  rhard  hit  by  a policy  which 
checks  the  demand  for  their  sugar  while  it  bribes 
others  to  sell  theirs  fo  r less  than  it  costs. 
A New  Manure. — Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd,  a well-known 
analytical  chemist,  has  called  attention  to  a result 
of  the  use  of  basic  slag  as  a manure  which  has 
not  previously  received  attention  in  this  country.  It 
appears  that  basic  slag,  in  addition  to  its  phosphate 
of  lime,  contains  a good  deal  of  free  or  caustic 
lime,  which  acts  as  a solvent  to  any  nitrogen  stored 
up  in  the  soil  in  humus  or  otherwise.  Thus,  unlike 
superphosphate,  which  depends  for  its  fertilising  uti- 
lity upon  the  phosphoric  acid  which  it  contains, 
basic  slag  has  its  greatest  effect  in  rendering  inert 
nitrogen  suitable  for  assimilation  by  plants.  This 
difference  may  account  for  variations  in  compara- 
tive trials  of  superphosphate  and  basic  slag, 
which  have  often  puzzled  observers  by  their 
apparent  contradictions.  Where  there  is  plenty 
of  nitrogen  in  a soil  in  a form  fit  for  plants,  super- 
phosphate is  usually  more  efficacious  than  basic  slag ; 
but  if  there  be  a deficiency  of  available  nitrogen  the 
converse  result  is  likely  to  be  shown.  If  this  theory 
be  proved  beyond  dispute  it  will  follow  that  slag 
must  be  regarded  as  a nitrogen-exhausting  manure 
when  used  freely  without  any  nitrogenous  accom- 
paniment. A French  chemist,  whose  remarks  on  the 
subject,  received  by  Mr.  Lloyd  since  he  broached  it 
recently  at  a meeting  of  the  Loudon  Farmers’  flub, 
has  made  some  experiments  to  determine  the  ques- 
tion, and  he  states  that  he  found  that  slag  converted 
the  inter  nitrogen  in  hiiinus  (organic  matter  in  the 
soil)  first  into  ammonia  and  next  into  nitrates,  in 
which  forms  it  is  readily  assimilable  by  points. 
THE  CEYLON  LAND  AND  PRODUCE 
COMPANY,  LIMITED. 
The  twelfth  annual  general  meeting  of  the  share- 
holders of  the  Ceylon  Land  and  Produce  Company, 
Limited,  was  held  at  the  registered  office  of  the 
company,  353  and  354,  Leadenhall  House,  101,  Leaden- 
hall  Street,  London,  E.C.,  on  Tuesday  December  15, 
The  chair  was  occupied  by  James  Wilson,  Esq. 
The  Secretary  having  read  the  notice  convening  the 
meeting. 
The  Chairman  rose  and  said : Gentlemen,  the 
report  of  the  directors,  with  statement  of  accounts 
for  the  year  ending  June  30  last,  are  presumably  in 
your  hands,  and  with  your  permission  I will  take 
them  as  read.  With  your  leave  I will  first  take  you 
w'ith  me  through  the  figures.  One  of  the  main 
features  of  the  debtor  side  of  the  balance-sheet  is  the 
total  amount  of  our  liabilities,  which  you  wull  notice 
works  out  at  £52,000,  constituting  a reduction  of 
£4,675  as  compared  with  the  previous  year.  It  is  wor- 
thy of  notice  that  during  the  past  two  years  we  have 
been  enabled  to  redace  our  liabilities  by  £14,000. 
These  figures  speak  for  themselves.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  account,  the  capital  value  of  our  estates, 
&c.,  has  been  increased  during  the  past  twelve  months 
by  £3,270 — being  the  capital  expenditure  incurred  in 
the  purchasing  and  opening  of  land  plus  the  up-keep 
of  planted  area  not  yet  in  bearing.  Perhaps  I may 
here  point  out  that  the  company  has  in  bearing 
l,555j  acres  of  tea  and  1,137  acres  of  cocoa  and 
other  products,  or  a total  of  2,693  acres.  This  area 
divided  into  the  total  capital  works  out  under  £37 
per  acre.  If,  however,  we  take  the  planted  area, 
1,9931  acres  under  tea  with  1,530|  under  cocoa,  &c., 
it  will  be  found  that  the  capital  value  will  be  £28 
per  acre,  without  taking  into  account  either  our  unopened 
lauds  or  our  reserve  fund.  There  is  no  doubt  that  at 
the  prices  presently  ruling  for  Ceylon  estates,  our  pro- 
perties are  worth  considerably  more  than  what  they 
stand  at  in  the  company’s  books.  At  the  moment  the  es- 
timated produce  account  has  been  reduced  to  £1,350, 
and  I have  every  reason  to  believe  that  this  account 
will  soon  be  closed  at  a profit  of,  say,  £100.  Tha 
other  items  do  not  call  for  any  special  comment 
at  this  time.  Turning  to  profit  and  loss  account 
the  expenditure  011  crop  is  much  the  same  as  last 
year.  Charges  in  London  and  Ceylon  mark  a reduction, 
owing  principally,  to  a much  lesser  debit  of  exchange, 
Our  gross  revenue  for  the  year  amounts  to  £38,913, 
against  £35.833  in  the  previous  period,  whilst  the 
net  profit  figures  at  .£12,125.  The  past  year  has 
been  a record  year  in  this  respect,  the  previous 
best  being  1890-91,  wiien,  before  allowing  for  tha 
£9,052  written  off,  the  profit  amounted  to  £12,121, 
The  report  of  the  board  is  so  full  that  it  leaves 
yery  little  for  me  to  add,  but  you  will  be  glad  to 
hear  that  our  clearings  are  coming  on  very  well, 
having  regard  to  the  bad  weather  encountered  when 
a portion  of  them  were  planted,  but  I think,  in  spite  of 
this,  they  are  to  be  a success,  and  our  last  reports 
from  the  isl  iud  corroborate  my  view.  With  Str.athisla 
I am  specially  pleased,  and  I look  forward  to 
the  time  when  this  estate  will  bo  very  remunerative. 
At  last  m :etiiig  the  chairman  explained  the  then 
position  of  the  litigation  entered  upon  by  the  com- 
pany again  u their  late  Ceylon  agents.  You  will 
now  see  by  the  report  that  this  very  troublesome 
matter  is  at  an  end.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
wo  ought  to  coiigi-atiilatc  ourselves  upon  the  suc- 
cessful issue  of  tnis  litigition,  which  has  caused  me 
an  immensity  of  trouble  aud  anxiety. 
Te.v. — ^The  Secret  iry  thou  reported  that  the  intake 
of  the  company’s  own  tea  created  a record,  the  figures 
for  the  crop  being  (i'.l  1,0. ) j lb.  against  an  estimate  of 
655,001)  lb.  Tlututii  crop  for  1891-95  was  597,000  lb. 
aga^iust  1893-91,  608,000  lb,  The  net  prices  realise^ 
