March i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
619 
TIIK CEYLOJs TOBACCO COAII’AXY LIMITED. 
It in only light that all the cironmstanoeB con- 
neotetl with the enterprise so named should be known. 
The main point is that the bud: of the capital 
of the Company was invested in hiiu!, which cost 
some K81,000, or nearly half the capital of the 
C omdany, which was about K220,000. When after 
two years' experienoe tobacco was found to be not 
only uncertain in growth, but al.so difficult of sale, 
it was decided nt once to epen with other pro- 
ducts ; and bad the shareholders all paid their calls, 
the directors would have been able to go on for 
another 18 months, by whieli time 120 acres of 
tea would bavo been in partial bearing, and the 
cacao, Liberian coffee, and coconuts so advarond 
as to render it easy to finance the Company. The 
money was not by any means all spent. When it 
was decided to voluntarily wind up, the assets were 
some B25,000 of unpaid cal's, or rather more 
than the equivalent of a year’s working ; and 
soma 60,000 lb. of tobacco, which it is hoped will 
realize at least 20 cents per pound average, ho 
far, we believe, none has fetched less than 
27 cents, but it can only bo sold in small 
quantities, say K12 000 as the value of the 
tobsooo. In addition to this the Company 
has all its lands, which are some of the finest in 
Ceylon. Of course all oonoerned knew that tobacco 
was a great sprculation and that the Company 
have lost on it goes without raying ; but it is con- 
tended that the directors did the best tbey oonld 
in the interest of the Company in commencing to 
plant other products with a view to selling the 
properties. Messis. T. N. Christie, Armstrong, 
Owen, Hill, &c. were ell shrewd, hard-working 
honeet men doing their best without pay or re- 
muneration for the Company ns direolors ; and 
the fact that at a large meeting two of the directors 
were unanimously (with the exoeption of Mr. 
Borron, who left the room) put on the consulting 
board to assist the Liquidator shows that they 
still retain the confidence of the shareholders. 
It gives US much pleasure on puhlio as well as 
private grounds to state these facts ; and we shall be 
only too glad to learn that the valuable lands and 
oultivation possessed by the Company will realize 
prices which may enable the accounts to be closed 
without lots to any of the sharoholders. It was 
really the refusal of so many of these to pay their 
sails, we believe, which oompcllod the directors to 
decide on liquidation. 
♦- 
Notes on produce and finance. 
I'aiuef.i.inq Tka — M essrs. Lloyd and Carter reiiort 
that auotione have been lighter during the past mouth, 
wnd this, coupled witn a very low range of prices, 
has enabled buyers to operate with more coufiih nee, 
“jyi all grades have be^n taken at e slight advance. 
I he deliveries and stocks can hardly be considered 
satisfaotory, but with continued low qiiolations, there 
Bnoiihl be incrcn«ed ooiiMiinption. The best averages 
have been made by M L 15 over U K iu cross I’oobung 
'oomtee, 8elimbong and Hope Town, but some very 
e oioe teas have been sold from Ohsmong ; the Orange 
T>,°® Brokoii Orange Pekoe at Ss lid, and 
1 • koe at 2s .fit. 
Last Wkkk's Tka .Sales. — O n Monday the publio 
90 r'ni Grocer, amounted to 
..>-Ll packages, when notwitbstanding the foggy wea- 
ker and the near approach of the holidays, there 
as a steady demand, and the above quantity was 
laaen off at full rates, eapeoiully for the best liquoring 
«mns. Coylon lea.— A very dense smoko and fog 
enveloped Ihe Oily on Tiiraday, when lO.L'iO packages 
a wore offered, but the demaud proved 
irr prices wi re obtained, occasioual 
irregularity waa apparent, while »ho small b-'eaka wore 
extremely slow sale. Sales will now be suspended 
until tbo New Year, and tie iriide will be heartily 
glad of the interval, as the nnmOer of samples taste J 
for months past baa t'Cin remarkable. 
“ A ItASK a.vp Astrinoent Decoction. I n a b(ok 
entitled ‘'Dcliculo Dining,'’ Mr. Theodore Child, the 
well-known American writer, says “In a fteat coun- 
try I ke England it is impos-ible to obtain really well- 
made coffee, except in a few private bcuste, while 
E' gitah tea is generally a rank and astringent de- 
coction, instead of a delicate infusion." This maybe 
true: but, at least, wo have the conso'atiou that in 
the matter of tea-making we can give Mr. Childs 
counlrymeu and women some points. But we 'Wts- 
tcrus have much to learn from the Chinese and 
JapanesQ as to the art of infusing tea. If the British 
matron snd her family were to diiuk tea as often as 
the light-hearted Jap.vnese do, the result would not 
be conduoive to the comfort of the said matron and 
tnmily. To materially increase the oousumption of 
tea some method r.f infusion akin to the Eastern is 
neoesaary. Mr. Child is tight. Stewed tea is a "rank 
aud astringent deonctiou.” Let ua, by all means, 
adept a better mettoi of iiifuaing, and tea may be 
taken at all limes without iujury. It is not urged 
against the Japanese or the Chinese that they taka 
too much tea, and yet they are for ever drinking it. 
They ate not accused of being victims to dyspepsia 
either ; and when our learned phyaiciaiia wish to point 
a moral they do not go to the Far East, but maintain 
that wo who drink tea lar leia freiiuently than the 
peopli 8 of China aud Japan are ruining our digestiona 
in ooDsequence. One would almost think that soien- 
tifio opinion, far fiom being on the side of the angela, 
was on the side of the brewi rr. 
The Apultek-vtion llEcoaD.— The record of the 
yeaYs a lulu rition with the London area shows that 
tea is the o ly article of produce which has a ciaaii 
bill of health. OolTea continues to he adulterated 
freely. Chicory is invariably the foreign subatauca, 
and the pioportiou usod is olten euormoua. The cocoa 
dritikors will nut appreciate the fact that their 
favouriie beverage is the chief subject of adulteration, 
uo lo.'S thau a third of the uiiiely-six samples aualy.seU 
having been oondomued. In m.any instances the 
amount of sugar, starch, and arrowroot added was ao 
consi.ierablo that the imtriiive value of the quantity 
of oecoa used for makuig a cupful must be iiifiuitraimal 
After a good many years, in which the adulteration- 
of sugar had apparently ceased, it has again come 
under notice in a curious form. Of 24S asmp'es ex- 
amine!, iii-arly one-seventh were repotted ns having 
been coloured with an nuiiiue dye ul an amber tint in 
order to make white crystals of beet sugar imitate 
tho more valuable Di merara. The quantity of the dve 
used, however, is very minute. The fol.owiug figures 
show the number of samples examined during the 
year, aud Iho peroeutsgeot cases iu which adnlteraion 
was reported Coffee : 1,733 ; a 'ulterated, 266 • per- 
centage in 1889, 14 9 ; ditto, 1890, 16-3. BugBr';24l! 
adulerated, 34 ; pofoeutago iu 1S90, 13-8. Tepper • 
1,329 adulterated, 75; porceutago in 1889, 89; ditto 
1890, 5b. dec; 349 ; adulterated, 0; peroeutage iu 
1889, 0 5 ; ditto, 1890, 0. ’ ' V cinvago lu 
Banana Cultivation— D iscussing the banana, tbo 
HorticultUYal Ti'iies says: — "At present the fine- 
uBvourod bAiidnaa are almost aakiiowo iu h)uropti i 
not becHUse tbeir excellence is unappreciated, but 
simply b( CMHe the fruit is of necessity too Iod^ by 
tt e way tj n ach tbufe countries in a msrketAble con- 
diiioD. S') it comes that twoHno^ of inventions having 
to do with biiuaua oultnre are sorely needed in the West 
XudioSy wIhto wiih them the baoeoa output would 
scon be doubled, end iu time might ladly be 
multiplied teufolda These sre • desiccating process 
aud a dour of meaUmakiog pruocss. The former 
is at present mOfct lu demand, aud wherever one 
travels ia the banana-producing regions, from 
UemTura to British Honduras, from Colon to 
SrtDiana Bay, the cry will bo heard at every large 
plautatiou, “ Oh ! if someone would only invent 
and perfect a drying or preserving process that 
could be depended on. iho mftu or men who cao 
