tEiE TROfiCAL AGRICULTl^RlSt. [Dec. i, 1895. 
vhile 16 per cent measured from 6 to 7, and only 2} per 
cent from 7 to 7| inches. As a rule, the percentage 
proportion of thort pod8 in a large sale i-uch es that 
under notice is much smaller, and it iu argutd that, if 
laat Thursday'u a84ortm«Qt is fairly representative of the 
seaaon's crop tf Seychelles vanilla, loug ijoda are likely 
to advance in price, while short ones may decline etill 
further than they did on October 2«th, when they fell 
from 6d to IB 6d per lb. in value. 
THE KEW DIMBULA COMPANY, LIMITED. 
The following is the report which was laid before 
the meeting o£ the shareholders of this Company on 
the 25th ultimo. 
In presenting their eighth annual report, the direc- 
tors are glad to be in a position to recommend a 
further reduction of the amount due on account of 
the cumulative dividends on the "15" shares. The 
estate suffered somewhat from the exceptionally cold 
weather of the past season, with the result that the 
yield of tea was less than the estimate. Some con- 
siderable profit has, however, been secured from the 
coffee still remaining, but the directors cannot hope 
for much further yield from this product. The 
accounts now presented show a surplus of £10,752 
6s lid after crediting Tea Extension Fund with 
£1,500 and writing off a portion of the " Factory and 
Machinery Account." The directors propose a divi- 
dend at the usual rate of 8 per cent per annum on the 
"A" Shares for the year ended 30th June last, one- 
half of whi^h was paid in March last ; the directors 
also propose a further payment in reduction of the 
cumulative dividend on the " B " Shares of 14 per 
cent. Very satisfactory reports have been received of 
the property, and of the state of the Factory and 
Machinery. The general management in Ceylon 
continnes to give every satisfaction, and has been 
ably Bupplemented by tha local staff, to whom the 
directors recognise the justice of awarding a bonus 
on their salaries. — By order of the Board, A. CuAiiiiE, 
Secy., 52, Gracechurch Street, London, E. C. 
The New Dimbula Company. — London, Oct. 27. — 
The eighth annual meeting of the shareholders of 
the New Dimbula Company, Limited, was held at 
their offices in Gracechurch Street cn the 25th inst., 
when the Director's report, which I enclose, was 
taken into consideration. So brief is this document 
that some may have considered it afforded but little 
opportunity for criticism ; two of the shareholders, 
however, both formerly Ceylon men, viz., J. Anderson, 
once of the Oriental Bank, and J. K. Morrison, a 
former inspector of the same institution, did not hold 
this opinion and " wanted to know " on several points. 
They regarded the report as far too meagre and 
gressed for information which, in their opinion, should 
ave been iound in it. 
Amongst the shareholders connected with your 
Island in addition to the above-mentioned were Sir 
A, Birch, and Messrs. H. Bois and A. Y. Adams, 
known for his daring night ride to Trincomalee 
through the Matale rabbles in 1848, whitherhe went with 
orders for troops to be pushed up by forced marches. 
The Secretary, Mr, A. Chabbe, having read the 
notice convening the meeting, and the previous 
minutes, the Chairman proceeded to offer some re 
marks on the statement of accounts and balance 
sheet, which he presumed would be taken as read. 
The season in the past year had been unfavour- 
able for crops, hence the lessened returns shown on 
the credit side of the accounts ; there was, however, 
every reason to look for better results in the cur- 
rent season. Sums would no longer appear against 
the tea extension account, as it was not deemed 
advisable to plant up any further extent of land of 
which ithey had still a considerable acreage. He 
would move that the accounts and report as laid on 
the table be adopted.— Sir Arthur Birch having 
seconded the resolution, the Chairman said that be- 
fore putting it to the vote he would wish to know if 
any shareholders desired information on any matter 
connected with the Company's operations. 
Mr. J. Anderson thought tbe Directors might 
'have offered the shareholders a good deal more 
It w<B UBoal in such documents to enter into bovae 
little detail as to tbe acreage of tea in bearing, the 
ages of the different portions of the Company's pro- 
perty, estimates of tea and coffee crops for tbe past 
and present season, tbe cost of the tek, &c., bat 
none of these details were forthcoming. 
Mr. J. K. Mokrison wished in the first pUc« to 
remark on what he regarded as unusual in reference 
to the Companies' balance sheets; tbe docuuient 
submitted bore no signature whatever. It would 
have been satisfactory had the report stated the cost 
cf their tea on the spot, which had not been done ; 
it was a question also whether the local charges 
were not rather heavy. 
The Chairman remarked in reply that they had not 
thought it necessary to cumber their report with 
more details than were absolutely necessary ; at the 
Bame time he had much pleasure in tffording all tlic 
information in his power on tbe points indicated. 
With regard to estimates and outturn of crop; the 
yield had been adversely affected by unfavourable 
weather, as to cost of their tea it bad»tood them in 
4'98rf. I.e., not quite 5d, whilst exchange had ruled 
at 15id. In the previous year their tea liad cost 
them 4°88d with an exchange of 16id ; tbe price 
realised for their last crop had been jcl per lb- leas 
than in the previous year. It was not an easy 
matter to state the precise acreage now under tea 
seeing that the coffee which grew amongat it was 
gradually dying out, and before long would have 
disappeared altogether. Making a rough statemeDt. 
it might be asjured that they had about 1.04U acres 
of tea in bearing, and 2^)0 acres containing tea and 
coffee. As for cinchona that was a product which 
was rapidly becoming a thing of tbe past. The 
directors now proposed to declare a dividend of 8 
per cent, on the "A'' shares, and 14 per cent, on 
the B " shares, made up as follows:— 4 per cent, 
on the balance of 1890 accounts, B per cent, on the 
balance of 1890 accounts, and 2 per cent, on the 
1891 acconnts. 
The report was then declared adopted, the officers 
re-appointed, and a vote of thanks carried to tbe 
Ceylon staff, and the Directors, who, as a share- 
holder remarked, have had a very low scale of fees, 
whatever may be thought of the Ceylon chargea. 
INSECTS ON FRUIT TREES. 
For the benefit of those of our readers who may 
be unacquainted with the means of destroying 
insects on fruit trees at tbe present season, we 
publish the following excerpt from a recent leaflet 
issued by the Board of Agriculture : — 
Upon examination of fruit trees, and especially 
Apple and Damson trees, it will be seen that many 
caterpillars are at work eating the forming fruit and 
the leaves. 
Ihe caterpillars at first are greyish, and so small as 
to escape notice nnless attention is specially directed 
to them, but they can be found in alarming numbers 
in many orchards and fruit plantations, ^and it is 
most important that steps should be taken at once 
to check their progress. 
In their later stages the caterpillars are light-green, 
and nearly three-quarters of an inch long. 
i^iVsf. — It should be noted that syringing the trees 
infested with caterpillars has proved advantageous 
in many places in previous seasons ; it has been more 
particularly useful in respect of Plum, Damson, and 
small Apple trees. The large old Apple trees are 
beyond the reach of ordinary garden engines used 
for this purpose, and it is only in hop-growing 
districts where hop-washing machines are generally 
used that the systematic syringing of large standard 
trees has been adopted. These machines can be 
moved about easily enough in orchards. In planta- 
tions, with fruit bushes under the standards, it is 
more difficult to njove them about, and to get the sup- 
plies of liquid brought through the thick undergrowth. 
The mixtures to be employed for syringing fruit 
trees are : — 
1st. The extract of 10 lb. of Quassia, obtained 
by boiling Quassia in water, to 100 gaJlpus pf watsj 
aucl 7 \h. Qi eoft-soa^i. 
