Dec. ], 1897.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
prolonged experience both here and in India, 
shew clearly that much more might be done with 
Ceylon copra : — 
1. Tea ; Cochin copra is never smoked or kiln- 
dried, always snn-dried ; hence the oil, that is pressed 
oat of it, becomes whiter. 
2. Oar opinion is that if the same method in pre- 
paring and drying copra as at Cochin, were prac- 
tised in Ceylon, — Ceylon oil woald eqaal Cochmoil 
or nearly so. 
3. Certainly. 
5. Jaffna and Battical oa. 
6. For merchants and mill owners it makes bnt 
little difference, whether ordinary or white oil is 
being shipped. It woald certainly be to the in- 
terest of planters, to adopt Cochin methods and 
send people over to stady these or employ Cochinese 
here. 
7. We are the largest shippers of copra from Ceylon 
and employ Malabar people to superintend drying 
etc. 
8. Calpentyn, Jaffna and Batticaloa supply the 
best copra ; Madampe the worst. 
Per Pro. Volkart Brothers, 
A. Bohlmann. 
THE CALEDONIAN (CEYLON) TEA ES- 
TATE LIMITED COMPANY 
Is generally discussed in the home press. 
It is reconstructed and enlarged from the 
Company started by our old friend and veteran 
colonist, Mr. Alex. Koss — one of the best 
planters who ever came to Ceylon — and he 
along svith Sir Alfred Dent and Mr. Wm. 
Gow constitute the Directors of the new Com- 
pany, while his son Mr. J. S. Ross is Manager 
out here, the Secretary being Mr. H. F. Stanley 
and offices at 11 , Old Broad Street. The capitaJ 
is £200,000 with a first issue of £110.000 in 
Preference, Ordinary and Debentures. Here is the 
criticisms of the Daily Chronicle on this issue ; — 
Only the profits for one year are given, which, from 
the three most advanced estates, amounted to nearly 
£7,000. There is no valuation given of the properties 
to be taken over, but taking the price of the un- 
cultivated land at £10 per acre, and the land under 
cocoa at £30 per acre, the price of the lard under 
tea, including the f.Tctories, buildings, and machinery, 
is under £55 per acre. The presenr issue will leave 
£7,000 available for working capital, and the remainder 
of the capital is be d in reserve for the future i.xten- 
sion and development of the estates. The future of 
this class of company is largely a question of 
management. Tea companies are, as a rule, only 
applied for by three who have a certain amount of 
local knowledge and experience of the trade, who can 
be trusted to look after themselves. 
The prospectus has a good deal of interest to 
Ceylon readers 
This Company is formed to take over as going con- 
cerns the properties of the Caledonian (Ceylon) Tea 
Plantations, Limited, consisting of the Venture Estate, 
situate in the BogawantaUwa District, and the Sele- 
gama Estate, situate in the Matale District, also to 
acquire as going concerns the Kahawatte and Waveena 
Estates, both situate in the Matale District, and the 
Lawrence Estate, adjoining the Venture property in 
Bogawantalawa, and to acquire other estates in Ceylon 
and elsewhere as favorable opportunities occur. 
The acreage of the estates now acquired is as fob 
Venture 
In full 
bearing. 
Planted 
and in 
partial 
bearing. 
Timber 
clearing 
Forest. 
Cocoa. 
Total. 
.. 399 
0 
5 12 — 
407 
Lawrence 
.. 450 
50 
— 65 — 
Forest 
and 
Chena. 
665 
Selegama 
.. 200 
300 
— 530 — 
1030 
Waveena 
20 
220 
— 46 — 
286 
Kahawatte 
— 
— 
— 236 160 
396 
Acres 
. . 1060 
570 
5 889 160 2684 
All the above land is freehold, except about 140 acres 
of uncultivated land on the Kahawatte Estate, which is 
leasehold. The greater part of the land planted with 
tea is situated at a high altitude in Bogawantalawa, 
one of the finest tea-producing districts iii Ceylon, and 
the remainder is situated in Matale, a district which 
has lately come into great favor for tea planting. 
The net profits of the Venture and Selegama 
Estates for the season ending 30th June, 1897, and 
of the Lawrence Estate for the year 1896, with a 
total crop of 465,0001b. of tea from 1,060 acres, were 
nearly £7,000. None of the young tea on the above* 
mentioned 670 acres was then in bearing. 
The yield from the estates now acquired for the 
present season (1st July, 1897, to 30th June, 1898) Is 
estimated by Mr. J. Stanley M. Ross, the manager 
of the properties, at 535,000 lb, made tea. Taking 
the rate of exchange at Is. 4d., and assuming that 
the tea will realise an average equal to that of last 
year (which may reasonably be expected, as the bulk 
of tea is produced at a high altitude), the profits 
should be approximately £7,500, which amount, after 
providing for the debenture interest and preference 
dividends, as well as London expenses, should leave 
a surplus sufficient to pay a dividend of about 8 per 
cent, on the present issue of ordinary shares. The 
profit should go on increasing as the 570 acres of 
young tea mature and come into fuller bearing, and 
there is still a large reserve of land available for 
planting. 
A considerable portion of the Kahawatte Estate 
is believed to be suitable for the cultivation of coco- 
nuts, which will be undertaken should it be thought 
advisable to plant up the available land with this 
product. 
The estates are in a high state of cultivation, and 
are well equipped with factories, bungalows, coolie 
lines, and sufficient machinery for all present require- 
ments. The rainfall is ample, and the facilities of 
transport are excellent as the estates are all con- 
nected with the railway by Government or other 
roads. 
The prices to be paid by the Company for the 
purchase of the estates and properties have been 
fixed by the several vendors at sums amounting to- 
gether to £103,000, payable as to £11,000 in preference 
shares, as to £11,000 in ordinary shares, as to 
£13,000 in debentures, and as to the remaining 
£68.000 in cash. Taking the price of the unculti- 
vated land at £10 per aero, and the land under cocoa at 
£30 per acre, the price of the land under tea, in- 
cluding the factories, buildings, and machinery, is 
under £55 per acre. The vendors will discharge 
all outgoings and liabilities belonging to seasons 
1896-7, in respect of the estates up to the 1st July 
1897, from which date the Company will be entitled 
to the profits ; but the Company will repay the 
vendors all advances made by them before that date, 
on account of the present season, and will take over 
all outstanding coast advances, and all stores pur- 
chased by the vendors for future use and in hand on 
the Is! July 1897, at cost price. 
The present issue will leave an ample surplus for 
working capital, while the unissued capital and 
debentures will jrovide funds for opening out more 
land and purchasing additional properties as re- 
quired. 
