April i, 1893.] 
THF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
739 
tion of buildings and machinery as shown by the 
accounts) is Kr)8,736'29. Of this sum R22,800 has been 
absorbed in paying an interim dividend at the rate of 
12 per cent, and the Directors propose that a farther 
dividend of 13 per cent, absorbing K24,700, be declared 
and made payable on the 27th February, and that the 
remainder of Hll,236’29 be carried forward. 
It will be seen that the property rein-escnting 
capital stands in the balance-sheet at the reduced 
sum of approximately, R331 per acre cultivated, in 
comparison with about R350 per acre in the pre- 
vious year’s accounts. The Directors hope to be able 
to show continued improvement in this manner from 
year to year, as new land is opened, and buildings 
and macninery are written down. 
The additional withering house referred to in the 
last report has boon completed, and another 
erected. An additional large roller is in order. The 
Snjjorintendent's permanent bungalow has yet to bo 
The total tea crop was 396,577 lb. or 96,577 lb. 
more than ostimateu in the last report the excess 
being mainly duo to very favorable weather for leaf 
production. The pinching area was .521 acres, of 
which 11 acres were under leaf for a part of the 
year only. 
The total quantity of ten for disposal was .399,568 
lb., which included 3,001 lb. tea made from leaf pur- 
chased. The whole crop was disimscd of in Ceylon. 
The cost of the ten delivered to buyers, including all 
charges and depreciation of buiidings and machinery, 
was 2;t-27 cent per lb. (being about 7^ cent less than in 
1890). The net value realised from sale was 37’47 
cent per lb. (being about 3 2 cent less than for the 
previous crop). The quality during the later months 
of the season was much inferior to that of the earlier 
months. The market in the year was materially 
lower ; particularly for tens of the class produced. 
The Company's property, having been increased by 
the purchase of 69 acres, Crown land consisted at Slat 
December, 1891, of : — 
lb. per 
acre. 
acres To.i planted In I88S ; yield In 1891. .850 
S79 acres 1 
Tea— 
viz. : — 
208 
t. .. ti 
18S7: 
,1 „ ..821 
J 100 
II It •» 
1888, 
M II ..491 
1 41 
II II 11 
1889 ; 
.1 .. ..^^23 
c 
II >» •» 
1890; 
(not In bearing.) 
\ 52 
II 
1891 ; 
C .1 ) 
119 
„ „ to be planted 1802 : 
265 
„ Forest, &c. 
953 
acres 
The Directors have undertaken 119 acres Tea ex- 
tension for 1892, of which 29 acres were partly prepared 
in 1891. 
The estimated Crop for 1892 is 410,000 lb. 
Mr. II. V. Masefield retires from the Board by 
rotation, in terms of the articles of Association, and 
being eligible offers himself for re-election. The 
appointment of an Auditor for the current year will 
rest with the meeting. — By Order of the Directors, 
B. G. Ij. Bkemner, Secretary. 
Colombo, 17th Feb. 1892. 
Mr, MASEriEU) moved its adoption, explaining that 
by an error Mr. D. Fairweather’s name bad been en- 
tore i as that of the Director retiring instead of his own. 
The MiNAOiNO Dibectob in seoonding the motion 
offered the following remarks upon the ao- 
oounts and business. He said that the report 
embodied the fullest information it was possible to 
give. It was subject for oongratulation that, whilst 
making a substantial division of profits, the capital 
value in the balance eheet showed a reduc- 
tion of nearly B20 per acre, the 588 acres 
planted standing at R194 CGI, or about R33I per 
acre. The Directors had carefully oousidered 
whether a larger dividend might advisedly be paid, 
the balance carried forward being Euffleient to 
Phy about 5 per cent ; but eoneidering that 
the margin of profit between cost of teas and sale 
prices was not so large in the seoond half of the 
year as in the first half-year, and that the market 
for loweountry teas is at present depressed, further 
that the new clearings required funds to be in 
hand, — it was determined to recommend a dividend 
of 25 per cent for the year, of wbiob 12 per cent 
bad been paid as an interim dividend. Be had 
noticed that another public company carried for- 
ward or sot aside as much as 16 per cent at the 
end of last year. The profit for the year was 30'96 
per cent, besides which 6 80 per cent bad been 
absorbed in writing off for depreciation of buildings 
and machinery. In the year the teas manufaetured 
had improved in value, and the cost of produc- 
tion was lower by 7^ cents. The new withering 
bouse referred to last year was nearly completed 
for a sum within the estimated cost of BlO.OOO. 
52 acres had been added to the cultivation against 
40 estimated, and extensions for 1892 had been 
begun. The shares had steadily improved in value 
during the year, several transaotiona having 
taken place at R200. There bad been a slight 
inorease in the number of shareholders. 
The report was formally adopted. Mr. C. M. 
Qwatkin proposed that a dividend at the rate of 13 
per cent (or B13 per share) be declared for the half- 
year ending SIst Deo:, 1891, and that it be made 
payable on 27tb inst. Mr. J. K. Faibweaiher 
having seconded, it was carried. 
Mr. J. R. Faihweather proposed that Mr, H. V. 
Masefield be re-elected a director. Seconded by 
Mr. C. M. Gwatkin and carried. 
Mr. 0. M. Gwatkin proposed that Mr. J. Guthrie 
be re-elected auditors. Seconded Mr. .1. E. Fair- 
weather and carried. 
A vote of thanks to the chair closed the 
proceedings. 
Tea and BaoDHisM in Japan. — I n'a lecture 
on Japan recently delivered in Chioago Sir Edwin 
Arnold said : — 
It is a carious thing that the arohilcoture of their 
cities and the character of their honsss and their 
fnruilare have all been really dictated to the nation 
by tbu teacup or teapot. A long time ago Buddhism 
and the tea pot camo into Japan together. Bud- 
dhism was a rather corrupt form, derived as it was 
from China. But it brought into llie nation what 
Buddhism always brings to an Asiatic people, soft- 
ness and grace of manner, and easy pleasure in 
living, and an absolute resignation to that inevit- 
able process of ceasing to live, which we call dying. 
The Japanese is less afraid to die, as I have seen 
in many hospitals, than anybody 1 know. That he 
owes to Buddhism. But he also owo.s to Binldhism 
the teapot and the ten plant. Ito Jassu said i— Let me 
invent somutbing that the poorest Japanese can enjoy 
as well as tlie noble. Let it be graoefni and polite ; 
let it be cheap.” Then ho said ; “ I have got it — 
the teapot.” Yon never enter a house but the tea- 
pot is brought to yon, and in drinking that tea 
you must observe certain ceremonies, which are very 
simrle. but which elevate and refine the character 
of tile people. They are so graceful that they even 
call the hot water with which they make the tea 
•' the honourable hot water," while if it bolls twice 
it is called *■ the mature hot water.” Half of the 
grace of the language and wonderfully polite forms 
of the Japanese have really grown out of tea drink- 
ing. One special form of tea drinking is called Cha 
No Yu, which is more solemn than a choral servico 
in a cathedral and to which you must ha eilueated 
before you take part. This is not ordinary, and it 
is not an example. Then, in order to be always 
ready to make tea, in every room, in every bouse, 
in every town, in every province in Japan, there is 
that He Ba Che and the She Bo Ohe. They have 
no stoves and no flreplaoe, although the country in 
winter is bitterly cold, but alwavs the fire-box— the 
be ba ohe, a little square or oblong box of copper 
ill which purified charcoal is always burning. — 
Japan Weekly Mail, 
