January 2, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
643 
the ret forest 
The Directors 
bands for a si 
airily held Wi 
farther venture 
(l was then ] 
be adopted, wh 
Mi 
tli 
es it is a good season 
itime3 in another part, 
s scattered there whs 
?ason on one part of 
hi be a bad monsoon 
&ve thought it advisable to hold their 
t time to se» if the property they 
going on well, before they made any 
Icier) then rose and said that he 
ust be gratified at the busi- 
jverything connected with the 
een carried out by the Board, 
it the Directors did not intend 
property ;it present ; for to do 
ening the Company with bor- 
t was advisable to avoid. On 
larelioldeis, he would express 
faction with the Report, and 
i accounts bad been put before 
es were able to ^ivc such a 
fore them, he thought it would 
r the City of London. (Hear, 
behalf of his t< 
their very grea 
the manner in wl 
them. If all C 
balance-sheet as 
be a very good tl 
hear ) 
Mr. J. T. WHITE (Director) referring to the dividends 
said that, two dividends at the rate of 8 per cent per 
•mo had been paid prior to June SOth, and the 
third dividend since that at the same rate. These 3 
dividends covered tho period of 15 months working 
of tin- Company since its formation, the profit 011 
tbis period being at the rate of S per cent per annum. 
As it. was necessary that these dividends should be 
confirmed by the meeting, he begged to propose it. 
II. Q-. '.\vi:s seconded it, and the proposition was 
unanimously carried. 
The retiring auditor, Mr. John Smith, was unanimous- 
ly re-elected. 
The CHAIRMAN then rose to make a few further 
remarks. He said that as Mr. Pratt had made a re- 
mark as to its r,ot being advisable to burden the Com- 
pany with borrowed eapital, he would say that that 
was quite the feeling of tho Hoard. They did not 
wish to have any mortgage on their estates. The share- 
hold 1 b would sec by the report that some of the 
estates were subject to unpaid mortgages ; but these 
would be paid off as soon as possible. It was their 
firm determination not to borrow; and, if it was found 
Koes ary to have more money, they would prefer to 
increase tho eapital rather than mortgage their estates. 
II,. hoped hi tune they should be able to keep up a 
g£i 1 reserve fund, and the balanco of £1,485 JJ9, which 
they now had, might bo considered the nucleus 
of such a fund. In reply to a shareholder, he said 
that Mr Harding was still their numa^r (agri- 
bttltnral) in Ceylon. He was a very largo shareholder 
1, 1 the Company, and resided on the principal cstnte. 
As to their prospects for the season of 1881-2, he 
would like to make a few remarks. In the Haputale 
patriot, the season there has been very nnfftvourabl, 
f..r ai. Che long-continued drought has prevented the 
wood fromoomioa forward and the plants from ripening, 
so as to bring forward the usual abundant blossom.-, 
«Jbioh is genernllj characteristic of this district. In 
all probability the crops for the coming season will 
be rather worse than i>a»t year. But they must ro- 
eolhet that last year tin ro were only three estates 
to deal tvitb, whereas for tho current year, there 
order to i 
condition 
tea. The Thotalagalla was their 
tate ; and in the current ye:ir it 
y for them to incur exceptional 
mild be rather high, be feared, iu 
drain it, to put the trees in good 
itates would give 
ected, but it might be a 
little below the average. They were, however, in 
fine condition, and they might look for a bumper 
crop before long. In reply to a shareholder, he did 
not think the dividend would be less than 8 per 
cent for tho next year. But he thought it would be 
wrong to hold out any certainty, as they were so 
very much dependent on the seasons. A very large 
amount of cinchona would always be growing. This 
was not so dependent on the season as coffee. They 
posseseed 1£ million of cinchona trees; and they 
could eas'ly strip the bark of these, if the coffee crops 
fell much below the average. They were a kind of 
reserve to fall back upon. The estate they were now 
treating for was altogether a ciDcboua estate. 
A vote of thanks to the ( hail man was then inov.d 
and seconded, and unanimously accorded. The Cbair- 
mim, in returning thanks expressed bis regret that 
Mr K. P. Harding had been unable to be present. 
NEW INDUSTRIES : GOLD-PROSPECTING ; 
THE MADRAS RULES. 
The task of initiating new industries hi any tropical 
or oriental laud must inevitably be attended with much 
difficulty. There are necessarily no exact means of ascert- 
aining what the returns will be for the money invested ; 
and the new venture, whatever it may he, is regarded 
as a specidation more or less rash and uncertain accord- 
ing to the temperament and attitude of the critic. In 
a Colony like Ceylon with so many undeveloped resources, 
with a good supply of comparatively cheap labour, a 
favourable climate and easy means of trasport, every 
possible encouragement ought to be given to the pioneers 
in new industries. More particularly is this true in 
reference to the Government and gold-prospectors. Tho 
impetus that would he given to trade and to the de- 
velopment of local revenue, affords ample justification for 
the Crown, as the bolder of immense reserves of land, 
setting its mining rights in abeyance altogether until 
the experimental stage had passed into one of settled 
and prosperous work. More than that it is the part 
of a Government situated like that of Ceylon to encour- 
age prospecting and pioneering, by a system of well- 
considered "bounties." In several of the Australian 
Colonies this has been tried with success, and a bill is 
now before the Natal Legislature, with every prospect of 
being carried, proposing that the Natal Government should 
offor a premium " to anyone- who, within three years 
from tho 1st January 1882, shall introduce into the 
colony any new agricultural industry suitable and cap- 
able of general adoption in tho colony by persons of 
moderate capital. The Council may make such regula- 
tions as they may deem tit for awarding the premium, 
provided that :— 
a. No article at present exported shall be con- 
sidored a new industry. 
b. Tho claimant ol tlu> premium shall lnv* grown, 
exported, and sold such product of a profit of not less 
than £IOHO value during the three years. 
c. The Council may, with the consent of tho Go- 
vernor, waive the necessity for tho full value of tho 
export within the three years, provided thai the oe« 
product is of such a character as to attain to general 
cultivation, and fulfils the purpose int 
