234 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
Oct, I, 1897. 
COCONUT PBOPERTY IN CEYLON. 
Value OF CocuNDT PRorEiri'Y.— No doubt the 
respective nieiits of tlie plaiitatioii.s sold ye.ster- 
day justified the wide diliprouce between the 
price.? paid. For Letchiniey estate, 248 acre.?, in 
the Chilaw district the price paid (R1 62,000) 
work.s out to nearly R660 per acre ; while for 
iSetavana estate 100 acres in the Puttalam dis- 
trict, the rate is just onedialf or R330 per acre, 
the price being R33,000. We suspect that the 
popularity of the Chilaw district had a good 
deal to do with the difference. 
A merchant writes : — 
“ Yoirr reference to the sale of Lctchimey and 
Setavana coconut estates, in issue of 12th inst., 
is surely based on insufficient information. The 
two estates are within a mile of each other.” 
This has reference to our finding an explana- 
tion of the one realizing double the price of the 
other per acre, in the one estate being described 
as situated in Chilaw, and the other in Put- 
talain district. We now understand that there 
was some reason for the lower ]>rice not com 
nected with the coconuts, soil or situation. 
We lately mentioned that As))okunawatte, the 
property of Mr. Mel\’ille White, in Flurunegala 
district, had been sohl. The purchasers (or their 
Agents) are Messrs. Finlay, Muir A Co., and the 
price jiaiil is R48,000 for a total area ot 365 acre.s, 
of which fully 200 acres are planted with Coco- 
nuts and some Cacao and Liberian Cotfee. This 
ought to be a bargain for the purchasers if the 
palms do well. 
THE TREATMENT OF TEA IN THE 
LONDON WAREHOUSES. 
(To the Editor of the Home and Colonial JIail.) 
Sir, — It seems to me that the time has come for the 
Indian Tea Association to take up the question of the 
proper repacking of tea iu the Londou warehouses. The 
objectionable method at present in vogue has been 
repeatedly shown up in the English and Indian press, 
in public lectures on tea in representations to the 
Assciatiou itself, and iu the elaborate work on tea 
lately published. So far as we tea planters know only 
one warehous has thug far shown itself open to im- 
provement, and has brought in modern machinery 
to replace the rough docker’s boot for pressing in 
the tea. 
Anyone who has seen the present barbarous 
method in operatioii will, I am sure, agree with me 
that it is unworthy of the present century^, and to an 
Indian or Goylou" planter who has been used to the 
utmost care iu packing teas it is simply shockiug. 
If something is not done soon to improve matters 
tlic question will find its way into the magazines 
and daily papers, and we will have illustrations 
shovdng ’ a heap of tea being sliovel.led into chests, 
and a row of dockers jumping upon it and stamping 
it in with their boots. It is a disgrace to civilised 
methods. 
The quoatiou of cost is no doubt a great factor in 
all improvements, and tl’.e warehouse authorities 
seem to haw thus far overlooked the fact tliat by 
Lisin."' iiiacliiucry they would probably save the cost 
of half a duzoii men by each macliiiio put into use. 
As a planter i am au.vions to push the subject, 
becuute I hud that by using machinery I can get 
more tea into a chest, and thus effect a 
cuii.ikleiable saving iu cost of packages and 
transit ; but then I tremble for our line teas 
when they conic under the heel of the 
ciithless docker, for if ordinary stamping is not 
suliicient, such violence will be used that there will 
be nearly as much dust as leaf when the chest comes 
to be opened by the grocer. 
Another point which urgently needs to be dealt 
with is the manner in which the chests are closed 
lip after repacking; the shreds ‘f tom lead being 
merely laid on the top and the lid roughly nailed 
down. Sometimes a bit of brown paper is added if 
the load is in a very bad state. Why should not the 
packages be properly soldered up ? 
The Indian branch of the Tea Association 
has recently had a committee to inquire into 
the treatment which pack.ages receive in Calcutta. 
Why should the Association in Loudon continue to 
couuteuaiice and perpetuate a crying evil which causes 
a continual loss to all concerned and practically ruins 
a large propiortiou of our finest teas ? — I amsii', yours, 
&’c., Anxious Pl.vntee. 
—IT and C. Hail, July 30. 
THE CONSOLIDATED TEA AND LANDS 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
The following is from the report for the year ending 
30th November, 1896, to be submitted to the first or- 
dinary general meeting of shareholders of the Consoli- 
dated Tea and Lands Company, Limited, to be held 
in the Accountants’ Hall, 106, W’est Nile Street, Glas- 
gow, today (Fiiday): — 
The directors have pleasure in submitting the ac- 
counts for the year ending 30th November 1896. The 
season, as a whole, has been favourable, the total crop 
having amounted to 16, 620, 5201b., against an estimate 
of 10,410,.')73lb. The average price obtained was 7‘67d 
per lb. The season’s operations have resulted in a 
profit of iT12,228. 15s, to which has to be added the 
profit deiived from the sale of land in Travaucore, 
viz., i'63,152 4s — iu all £175,380 19s. Against this sum 
the following amounts are chargeable : — Commissions 
on profits to managers of estate.s, managing agents 
in Calcutta, and secretaries, £11,150 7s; interest to 
shareholders and others on deposits, £1,039 3s 5d ; 
interest on purchase price payable to the North and 
South Sylhet Tea Companies, Limited, £55,811 11s 9d; 
dividend paid to the first preference shareholders of 
the company, £12,912 4s lOd : dividend payable to the 
second preference shareholders of the company, £7,231 
6s 8d — leaving a balance of £87,236 5s 4d to be dealt with. 
Out of this the directors propose to pay a dividend of 
10 per cent on the ordinary shares, which will absorb 
£8,000, to place the sum of £65,000 to a reserve fund, 
and to carry forward to next year a balance of 
£14,236 5s 4d. 
The latest reports from the company ’s visiting 
agents and superintendents show that the estates are 
in good cultivation, and that the estimates of yield for 
the current season, viz, 11,486,300 lb., will probably 
be realized. During the year under review 4, 827| acres 
in India and Ceylon have been cleared and planted. 
Of this area, 4,148 acres have been planted with tea, 
and 679i acres with coc^a, coffee, and coconuts, bring- 
ing the'total planted area up to 32,2o7j acres. A fur- 
ther area of 4,.137 acres will, it is hoped, be planted 
in 1897, chiefly iu Assam and Ceylon. 
As mentioned in the circular of May 21, 1897, to the 
shareholders, the directors have concluded an agree- 
ment with the Amalgamated Tea Estates Company, 
Limited, to work the whole of this valuable property 
on joint and equal account. It was the original in- 
tention of the directors cither to sell portions of the 
com-pany’s property or to form various subsidiary com- 
panies, but further experience in developing it showed 
them that the introduction of competitors would prob- 
ably Leml lo enhance the rates of labour considerably, 
and otberwicc add to the cost of cultivation. It was 
tliurcforc arranged to form the Kanau Devair Hills 
Produce Com; .:uy. Limited — the shares to be held by 
the Consolidated and Amalgamated Companies equally 
— to purchase the land and estates of the company in 
the Travaucore Concession for £146,525, being the 
valuation arrived at after careful inspection, bj' Mr. 
William Milne and Mr. Leybnrn Davidson. This has 
accordingly beeir done ; and this arrangement, while 
preserving the advantage.? of one proprietory, secures 
the necessary capital for the rapid development of the 
