533 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Feb. r, 1898. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
Our Tea Commissioner sends tlie Committee 
of Thirty a lull and cheering imdget of news 
w'liieli will he found given in our Corre.^^pondence 
column elsewhere. Mr. Mackenzie ileal.s largely 
w ith the progi ess made in the Canadian Dominion 
and es]iecially in Lower Canada through the 
enterprise of Messrs. Larkin & Co. in con- 
junction with Messrs- Tetley & Co. — 
both, we take it. receiving a snhsidy 
from our Tea Fund in support of their 
work. But we are also t< Id of_ progress in 
Boston, New York and Philadelpli’.a, as well a.s 
in more inland towns — Clp'-elar-d and Biitialoe — 
and still moie in .'-■ome oi ilie I'm M est 
States. So. the good ww'k o: accnsti loing our 
American cousins to really good tea, goes on, 
and hy-and-bye, Ceylon and Indian idanters 
ought to rea)-)' the fruit by tinding the consum- 
tion of machine-made teas across the Atlantic, 
double every year for sometime. Mr. Mackenzie, 
is very clear as to the advant.age of t he ne\y ( us- 
toms system — a number 26 sieve being substituted 
for a 16 .sieve — .ami liC. gives Mr. Bleeliv; ■ en the 
fullest credit for the good work be perlormed 
in urging the Goiernment until the amondment 
was granted. The result is that instead of pure 
Ceylon and Indian teas, inferior Japan and 
China tens are now being shut out in large quant- 
ities both from the States anu Canaila. These, 
the importers now propose, to ship to the London 
market— that refuge for the destitute and worth- 
less. "NVe have already mentioned how teas re- 
jected at Melbourne as “unfit for human food ” 
got reshipped to Ijondon wheie they s<dd to 
more than cover expenses. We must the Ceylon- 
London Association may stir up the London 
Customs authoritie.s to try and put a stop to 
this state of things, and a very good rppor- 
tunity is presented now for catching, i ejecting 
and destroying the inferior China’s and Jaiiaii’s 
about to be leshipped from America. 
Qj^YIiON TEA ; WHOLESALE AND RETAIL* 
Writino- from the North of Scotland, Mr. A. 
H Duncan raises a point that may Le worth 
considering about our teas : “ I don t undei- 
stand why your tea has gone down in price eom- 
uared with that of India. There is no difference 
in tlie retail shops— Ceylon being still foremost 
-and the R12.000,000 which you speak of as 
beiim^ lost to Ceylon, must be going into the 
pocktAs of the men of Mincing Lane or the 
shopkeepers. I am paying tlie same luice for 
tliC same quality of tea as I have done foi the 
past three or four years, so the loss to Ceylon 
is not beiielitting the tea diinkei.s of Britan. 
We suppose the explanation is that our 
better high-urown teas have not fallen so 
much in price— but that our average has fallen 
chiefly Ihiongh the effect of medium and low- 
grow'ii leas being so largely produced 
LAGALLA tea estates, LIMITED. 
T'. t ort cf the Directors to be Enbmitted to the 
holder^ at the Oidinary General meeting, to 
U'he'd •■t bS, Lime Street, E.C., on Tuesday, 4th 
'the ■Dirxetova beg to submit their Report, and also 
Statement of Accounts duly auditea, lor the season 
Showh.gaw I I 
iuu the balance of last Account .. 79.5 5 2 
The Total is 
... £2290 11 7 
Out of which the following Dividends have been 
paid : — 
1st January — Ordinary Shares. .£620 0 0 
,, Preference Shares 609 16 6 
1st July — Preference Shares 1050 0 0 2279 16 6 
Leaving a Balance to carry forward of £H' 15 1 
During the yee^r the crops realized in Lciidon 
were : — 
Raualla and Halgrair Oya Estates, Tea, 205,8581b. 
at a gross average 9T4d. per lb. 
Kelburne Estate, Tea., 101,7341b. at a gross average 
of 8‘lld. per Ih. 
Ragalla and Halgran Oya Estates, Coffee, 341.0.9 
cwt. at a gross average of 88s. 8d. per cwt. 
Kelbuine Estate, Coffee, 297.1.22 cwt. at a gross 
average of 9Ss. 6Jd. per cwt. 
The following are the acreages of the Company’s 
Estates : — 
Ragalla. 
Halgran 
Kel- 
Total. 
Oya. 
burne. 
Acres. 
Acres. 
Acres. 
Acres. 
Tea in bearing 
. . 615 
11 
463 
1289 
., non-bearing , 
.. Ill 
— 
309 
420 
Coffee 
— 
— 
10 
10 
Timber 
. . 150 
15 
135 
300 
Patna, A’c. 
. . 123 
166 
64 
8.53 
Totals 
. . 999 
392 
981 
2372 
The estimates for the Estates for the current sea- 
son are as follows : — 
£ 
Tea Crop. — 490,000 lb. at 8d per lb. nett . . 16,331 
Coffee Crop. — 100 cwt. at 90s per cwt. nett. . 4.50 
£16,783 
Profits on Bazaars and Manufacture . . 380 
£17,163 
Less Expenditure in Ceylon for upkeep ; 
R169,564, at Exchange Is .3|d . . £10,951 
Gross Profit . . £6,212 
During the past year a considerable amount has 
been spent on Capital Expenditure, which included 
the erection of the new and substantial Factory on 
Ragalla Estate, upon which was spent, to 30th June 
last, £5,376. The building was opened in June for 
the manufacture of the present season's crop, and has 
fully realized expectations. 
The teas from Ragalla Estate are improved in manu- 
facture and quality, and have in consequence sold at 
considerably enhanced prices, the average to date for 
the present season being for 48,210 lb., l/-per lb. nett, 
against an average for last season of 8d per lb. nett. 
The ciop for the present season, from Kelburne 
Estate, has averaged 7|d. nett for 20,020 lb., against 
7d per lb. nett for last season. The earnings of the 
Company, in common with other undertakings of this 
kind, have been reduced by the unexpected advance in 
Exchange, the heavy loss caused by the dearness of 
rice owing to the famine in India, and also labour dif- 
ficulties ; but the Directors are glad to say that these 
latter drawbacks are now to some extent disappear- 
ing, hut the question of Exchange is one upon which 
it is difficult to form a reliable opinion. 
In addition to these adverse circumstances the 
crops, owing to unfavourable weather during the last 
two mouths of tlie season, resulted in a large defi- 
ciency as compared with the estimates. 
The Directors, thetefere, regret that they are un- 
able to declare a Dividend on the Oidinary Shares. 
There car, he no doubt that the Company pos- 
sesses a most valuable properly, and the Directors 
do not hesitate to express their opinion that as far 
as they can foresee it cannot fail to be highly re 
munerative in the near future, as the benefit from 
Cajiital Expenditure which has been incurred for some 
years past in opening new laud and in erecting 
the factory will show itself by increased crops and 
improved quality. 
