June i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
&33 
NUTJiS l’'RO.M OUll LONDON LETTER, 
Lo^■DOS, April 22. 
THE CFALON TEA rLANTAIICNS CClirANT, 
we hear that its report has thia week been O’r" 
culated among its sharcholdrr?, but no details have 
yet been allowed to transpiie as to the amount 
ol the dividend it rcooramende. All that has reached 
me aa yet with respect to it is that it oontains a 
suggestion that the Company’s chief manager in 
Ceylon, Mr. Q. A. Talbot, who is now in England 
on l ave, shall, during the coutinuaneo of that 
leave, act aa as director of the undertaking in 
place of Mr. Henry Tod. Mr. Reid’s death is of 
course too recent to have enabled arrangements 
for tilling up his place on the same board 
of directors to have been discussed. Just 
aa my writing had thus far prpereded 
it became possible for me to learn Eome of the 
loading particulars of the report just rrferred 
to. It states that the nd amount at 
credit of preCt and loss account, including 
balance brought forward at dlst December 18P0, 
and after providing for general expenaes, 
directors’ fees, income tax, was £31,43!) Ss. 91. 
The interim dividend oi 7 ji r O'lit on the ordinary 
shares paid 27th October 1B91 absorbed £10, '.'54 
63. Od. It is now proposed to pay a final dividend 
of 8 per cent on the ordinary sharea (making 16 
per c’nt in a'l, free of ino 'mo tax) which will 
absorb a further sum of £11,727 43. Od. A dividend 
on the 7p''rof nt prefer- nee fhares was paid on 
the 30ih Juno 1891, rrqiiiring £l 018 3.3. lid. and 
ano her similar one paid on the Slat Dcoimbrr 
ISO*' took £1,732 13a 21 The directors prvpos- 
to add to the reserve fun.! out of last year’s profits 
£5,49) 83 Od and to carry forward to n, xt year 
the balanoe remaioing of thojo amounting to 
£1,213 8s 2d. 'I he gross overage prioo realized 
far the oompany'a teas soli in London during 
last year waa !)Jd per lb. this being ]}d per 
lb. less than was obtained du log the year previous. 
The report stales, how. vor, that the coat of pro- 
duolion was one farthing per lb. loss than in 1890, 
so reducing the net differ. tieo to IJd per lb. This 
is, however, heavy enough to thow how seriouely 
the selling prioo of tea hss been reduced upon the 
London inaikHt, forwobelitve few groups ol estates 
in Ceylon have sent home teas ol more level or bitter 
quality than that marked by the Ceylon Planta'ioos 
Company. Certainly it is a feather in the cap ol this 
large undertaking that in spite of the reduction 
in prioo obtained it has yet been able to maintain 
so satisfactory a dividend as La per cent during 
the past year. All the ahareholders are greatly to 
bo congratulated on this result, one which the 
publication of cannot, but influence opinion aa to 
the rrmunorstivciiesa of your leading industry. IVe 
also strongly feel that, taking that view alone, it must 
bo most satisfactory to the general public in Ceylon 
that there is now no chance of the Company’s 
oontiuucd success being eiidangtrcd by the undertak- 
ing of any onterpriza outside of the colony, fuoh 
as it was proposed to enter in the Btraita Settlements. 
There may ns well bo added to Jho particulars 
above given of thia report that the tea received 
waa plucked from 6,090 acres, and that the average 
yield per acre over this area was 414 lb. per acre. 
It announces also that all the Company’s pro- 
pert! s are in excellent condition, and that 
the faotoiy accommodation and maohinery, 
which were scare- ly equal to the require- 
ments of the past year, are now being inoteased 
to meet the largely -expanded business of the 
Company. It is regr. liable to observe that 
this report is signed by the Chairman, the late 
117 
Mr. David Beid. Enclosed with it was a circular 
intimating the death ol that gentleman at bis 
residence, Thomanean, Kinross-shire, on the 13th 
inst. I have been obliged to deal with this report 
in a somewhat unoonneoted fashion, no copy of 
it having reached me, and having had to obtain 
my iuformation respeotiug it from several different 
Bouroes, time not having permitted ol my amalgama- 
ting their ialtlligeooe into a more connected form. 
GOVERNMENT QUININE. 
Under thia heading the Rangaon Timet publishes 
some interesting remarks anont the Government of 
India declining to sell anlphato of Its own manu- 
facture to anyone beside Government officers. It 
assumes, among other reasons, that this may be duo 
to Government not wishing to interfere with private 
trade, in which assumption it is undoubtedly right. 
Our contemporary proceeds;—" Private vendors of 
quinine sell it at very high rates, far beyond tlie reach 
of very many, and often their article ia of inferior 
quality and greatly adulterated. In the East, where 
qniniuo in moat places is an absolute necessity to 
guard against the insidious attacks of the deadly fevers 
peculiar to tho topics, everyone should bo able to get 
it, and in as pure a state aa possible, and no one can for 
a moment maintain that tho Government is competing 
with private enteiqiriao if it offers an article in tho 
iiitoresta of the health and the lives of its subjects, of a 
purer quality than the article obtainable in the market, 
and at a rate far below tliat charged by private vendors. 
In fact, such a proceeding on tho part of Government 
will have tho effool of making private vendors more 
careful of what they offer the public, and will really 
give a stiiuuliia to private trade." We concur in 
tho suggestion conveyed in this remark, and would 
add that there is no reason apparent why Govern- 
ment should not supply local traders with its own 
manufacture and thus give an iiiipotus to an im- 
portant industry both in Northern and Southern India. 
Dealing with this subject so far aa it affects 
Burma, the Rangoon Times continues.; " In] Burma, 
which is preominoiilly a feverish province, it would 
lio a boon to many engaged in private enterprise in 
tho country to be able to purchase quiniuo from 
Goveramont. Tliero are many Europeans, and 
thousands of Biiriuniia and otho s, working in tho 
forests for pirivate individuals and firms; large numbers 
are also employed in exploiting minerals and oil, 
and many aro* engaged oy private contractors on 
railway construction and road-raakiug for tlio 
Government. The majority of these undertakings 
Is in the most sickly parts of tho province, and 
much inconvenience, and loss is often experienced 
from tho Europeans and tho labourers engaged 
in them falling sick and having to go away 
from ill health. At the high rate at whicn 
private vendors sell their quinine, it would bo ruinous 
to supply everyoiio who rocpiired it with the article 
and 111 many coses even it is procurable only in very 
sraali quantities. If those engaged in private enter- 
prise were allowed to puronaso tho Government 
quinine at the rateaat wbioh it ia sold to Government 
officers, a great deal of the sickness which prevails 
among those engaged on works of iiublio utility and 
private enterprise in Burma would bo avoided, and tho 
province itsol f would bo greatly benefited. It ia possible 
that private individuals can obtain Government 
quinine by getting it through Governmont officers, if 
they are able to show just and sufficient cause why 
tliey should be supplied, but such a course is un- 
desirable, on account of tho circiuiilociition which has 
to bo observed, and for several other reasons. We 
assure the Government of India, that it will bo con- 
ferring a boon on tho people who are intrusted to its 
caro, by making the sale of Government quinine free 
to overyone, official and non-official alike, at the rates 
at which it ia now sold to Government officers.” 
These arguments are forcible, and will, we trust 
receive attention from tho Government of India, whose 
present arraugouiouta fox supplying qniniue Wight 
