April i, iSga.] 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURISIT, 
763 
year; By the bye) I roost uninieutionaliy did some 
of my friends an injustioe in luy Ust “NoUB'’wheu 
alluding to the coat of pliioking, and for this I apolo- 
gise moat sincerely. The average cost of plucking in 
Ihia district is considerably cheaper than in Ceylon, 
and with this we ought to be satisfied. By last 
maii I received a letter from an old Travanoore 
planter, from whom 1 have not heard for many 
a long year, who, after alinding to the great 
pleasuru with which he reads from time to time “ those 
Interesting notes from Peermaad” — one for me, Mr, 
Editor ?— extracted from the Madras Times— (I am 
writing by next mail to tell him ho should aub^ctibe to 
The J’imet and so get his i.otes.&o., direct— one for you, 
Mr. Editor asks mo the following pertinent ques- 
tion : — “ Why do Ceylon teas bring to much better 
prices than TVavancore ?’■ and adds “they certainly are 
not a bit better in the cup.” The italics are mine. 
To him I would reply ; — “ Prestige and advertising.” 
and, I would add, with all humility, that even Ceylon 
cannot expect to live for ever on the former, and trust 
that Travanoore will sunn go in for a little of the latter. 
To give your readers some idea of the strides tea is 
making in Peermaad, I cannot do better than describe 
a visit 1 paid last week to ” Boo Ami,” the largest tea 
estate in tins distriet, and unless I am much mistaken, 
in Travanoore. Bon Ami is silnated on the northern 
aide of the Amian-Thnrahy liidge, whiob aeparates the 
Perintlioora from the Peermsml fproper) and Arrnday 
country. The range of hills run almost dne east and 
west, tor ahont 10 mile*, from the hi^ peak of Am- 
meratba Malla on the west to Shaitan Msllaon the 
eaat ; the only break being at the foot of the latter, 
where the Peryar rushes through a gsp, a little over 20 
yards wide. By the bye, it has often struck me, tlmt 
this is the spot that should have been selected for 
the great dam which is being built across the river 
some 15 miles higher up. There is only one draw- 
back that 1 know of, and that is, that the one very 
fine cotfee estate, and two equally fine tea gardens 
would have bceu completely submergi-d, and the amount 
of onmpeusalion that the proprietors of these pro- 
perties wunid have demanded would probably liavo 
reduced the Government of India to a at tie of utter 
and bupelosB bankiuptey ! 
Prom the verandah of the Manager's pretty little 
bungalow — by the bye, 1 hear, he is to have a new 
one soon, and not before it wes wanted — one obtains 
a lovely view of the grand old peaks; but I must tot 
linger over views, lovely though they be nor trespass 
on yonr space by even an allnsion to the wealth of 
lovely Howera, so tsstefnlly grouped about the lit*le 
“bijou” of a garden, but proceed to busitiesa, and to 
th« factory, whiob. a moat imposing crnciform edifice 
forming a very oonspiciou* feature in the landscape, 
stands to the left front, and within a stone’s throw of 
the bungalow. 
When I mention tlint the withering lofts measure 
some 400 by 24 fett, you will have some idea of the 
capacity ot the buildings. Hut it is the inaolii- 
nery that naturally attracts our rhirf attention. A 
Oew 20-horse power engine has just been erected by 
Mr. William Pottie, Engineer to the Colombo Com- 
meroial Company, l.imited, (wh » came over expressly 
from Ceylon to erect two of Brown’s Deesicators, 
which have lately been iutrediiced into this district, 
\ "cmething more to any later 
1). The flywheel, 0 feet in diameter snd weighing 
« tone, took the greater part of a month in its jnur- 
ney from the coast to tlic estate and, if no body or 
"‘>ng else deserves it, great credit is due to the wheel 
•9f having hehsved itself so well under very trying 
c'rcumatances. Having duly admired the engine and 
tts Burrouiiilinga our attention was drawn to the two 
» n •■’2-mch Rapid Rollers, the Sontor’s Patent 
ou-breaker and sifter combined, by Brown lUe &O0.. 
' Y- "■ Upper Dikoya, fleylon ; a mo‘t perfect 
aoiiine, acknowledged to be tho best, ospeoially since 
th? Kcar has lioen added. Next oome 
doT. j Davidson's Sirooeos, one np, end one 
own-draft, and then, “ the gem of tlie Paotory,” 
wnri!^'°'*'“’“ 2 Dessicator (tea drier). The 
rjting of this is eimplioity itself, and certainly 
the Dessicator not only does, bat does well, 
aU that the makers olaim for it. It is sim- 
ple and easy to work ; it is next to impossible 
to burn the tea, as the temperature is under perfect 
control, it is economical as regards fnel, the power 
required to work the exhaust Isn is nominal, and the 
leaf requires no hand turning, as the hot air current 
passes alternately through the tra^s, first from below 
and then from above. The Dessicator is made in 
two sorts. No. I. turns out 80 lb., and No. II. 120 
lb. tea per hour. In addition to this, an Elston’s 
patent enrer is shortly expected, and then I think 
the msrager will, for a time, at any rate, feel per- 
fectly satisfied with bis maobinery. I may mention 
that “ Bon Ami ” is expected to turn out dating the 
present year 250,000 lb. of tea. 
“ Kudawa Karnum,” and "Glen Mary” are the only 
two other estates that have erected ateam machinery, 
and I may have something to say about them on 
another occasion. While on the snbjeetof mtohinery, 
I may mention that Messra, Brown Rae it Co. of Hatton 
referred to above as the makers of the patent Roll 
breaker and Sifter, have also patented a triple action 
Rol'er,’ of which I hear most excellent reports. It 
requires only 2 horse power to drive it and roils SOO 
lb. of loaf ; verb. sap. — Madras Times, Peb. 24. 

COLOMBO COMMERCIAL COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
Dibeotobs 
John Brown, Esq., Chairman. 
Edward Conder, E$q. | L. Pamin, Esq. 
H. H. Fotts, Esq. | Norman Stewart, E'q, 
Repoet. 
To be presented to the Seventeenth Ordinary General 
Meeting of tho Company, on Monday, the 22nd day of 
Pfbruary, 1892, at 12-30 o’clock p.m. 
The Directors are now able to place the following 
Annual Aorounts before Shareholders, viz. 
Profit and Loss Acconnt for the year ending SOth 
September, 11891. 
Balance Sheet made up to 30tb September, 1891. 
It will be seen from these Acconnts 
that the result of the year’s oper- 
ations is a profit of ... £5,468 13 9 
A balsnco was brought forward from 
last year of ... ... 221 0 6 
Making a total at the credit of Pro- ■ 
fit and Lose of ... ... £5,679 14 3 
The Directors propose to apportion this sum as 
follows : — 
To the payment in full of the Dividend on the 
6% Preference Shares for the year ending 30th 
September, 1891 . . . . . . £1,089 0 0 
To the payment of a Dividend) 
of 69^ on the Ordinary Shares 
for the Bsme period . . . . 3,500 0 0 
To be carried to next aoeount . . 1,090 14 3 
£6.679 14 3 
Under careful management, the Oompany’e General 
Trading husieess has made satisfactory progress during 
the past year. 
The result from the working of Company’s Estates 
has also shewn an improvement. This was due to 
increased crops of tea being secured, and the yield 
should continue to improve as the tea bushes mature. 
Tlie area under tea on the Company’s Estates has 
been added to during tho year, and now standaat 1,510 
acres, and the Board are still further extending the 
area under this prodnet. 
Tho Tea Meritet at the present Itime is low, no 
donbt due to the increased supply from Ceylon, but 
partly as a set-off against this, it is satiefaotory (0 
report that tba price of silver keeps down. The im- 
• “Triple action roller ”? Is there another " Richmond 
IBtownl in the field ”?-Ed. T. A. 
