THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Dec u iS>4. 
Lbwer Shire. The scheme has progressed so far that 
a survey of the country has been decided upon. 
For the cultivation of the Administration's terri- 
tory tha native labourers, are mainly drawn from the 
Angonis and the Atongas on the shores of Like 
Nyassa. Both tribes are excellent workers. They are 
of moderately strong build, dOoile, contented, and 
frugal, sustaining themselves on a small quantity of 
Indian corn. The local labourers at Zomba are prin- 
cipally of the Yao tribe, who are strongly built, but 
lazy. When the country is cleared, and has conse- 
quently become healthier than it is at present, Mr. 
Whyte is of opinion that there is nothing to prevent 
Scotchmen who may migrate there making a com- 
fortable livelihood with the minimum of labour. To 
the sportsman who loves to hunt big game it offers 
special attractions, for antelopes, zebras, and buf- 
faloes abound, as well as lions, rhinoceroses, leopards 
and hyenas, while migratory herds of elephants pass 
at the seasons when certain fruits ripen on the trees. 
Mr. Whyte brought home with him a fine collection 
Of specimen plants, animals, and birds, which have 
been deposited in the British Museum. Experi- 
mental gardens have been opened at Zomba, and in 
these the growing of all kinds of plants is being 
tried with a view to their genoral introduction into 
the country. 
THE AMSTERDAM CINCHONA-MARK BT 
The cinchona-bark sales to be held in Amster- 
dam on November 8th will consist of 352 cases 
and 5,708 bales Java bark, the whole weighing 
about 504J tons, divided as follows: — From 
Government plantations, 71 cases and 209 bales 
(abut 274 tons) ; from private plantations 
281 cases and 5499 bales (about 477A tons). 
This quantity contains of druggists' bark : 
Succirubra quills, 230 peases ; succirubra broken 
quills and chips, 49 b es 93 cases ; Succirubra 
root, 12 bales ; Officinalis quills, 3 cases ; C&lisaya 
quills, 26 cases. Of manufacturing bark : Ledgeri- 
ana broken quills and chips, 4,379 bales ; Ledgeri- 
ana root, 586 bales ; Officinalis broken quills 
and chips, 349 bales ; Officinalis root, 3 bales ; 
Hybrid broken quills and chips, 276 bales ; 
Hybrid root, 19 bales.— Chemist and Drugrjist. 
♦ 
THE AMERICAN VANILLA-MARKET. 
(October 25th.) 
The 0., P., and D. Reporter estimates the 
average yearly consumption of vanilla in the 
United States at 936 cases. The present stock 
in the States is thought to be only about 400 
cases, while 60 cases are still in the hands of the 
vanilla-curers in Mexico (the bulk of the condi- 
ment used in the States is of Mexican growth), 
leaving an available supply of 460 cases to supply 
the requirements until the next crop conies in 
over eight months hence, for, in the ordinary 
course, the new beans do not arrive in New York 
before April or early in May, and the bulk of 
the crop comes forward in instalments during 
May, June and July. It is believed that the 
stock of extracts in the hands of manufacturers is 
light, and that it is only a questionof a short 
time when they ■will be obliged to comeinto the 
market to secure their beans. Meantime there 
is considerable inquiry in America for French 
account, which appears to show that France, also, 
is practically without supplies. — Ibid. 
INDIAN TEA SALES. 
(From Watson, Sibthorp & Co.'s Tea Report). 
Calcutta, Nov. 21st 1894. 
There was a strong demand for all grades in the sales 
held on the 15th instant, and the advance quoted last 
week was fully maintained, common sorts being in some 
cases fractionally dearer. 10,560 packages changed hands 
The average price of the 10,540 package* told Is As. 9-9 
or nearly lod per lb. as compared with 13,909 package* 
»old on the 16th November 1893 at As 6-10 or about t^d 
per lb. ami 17, 428 package* sold on the 17th November 
Jol>2 at As 9-0 or about 10^1 per lb. 
The exports from 1st May to l»th Noveuil>er from here 
to Great Britain are 83,002.634 lb. as compared with 
83,788,905 lb. at the corresponding period last season and 
78,9*2.682 lb. in 1892. 
Note.— Last sale's average was As. 9-7 or about 
9Jd per lb. 
Exchange.— Document Bills, c months' sight, is i-7-ied 
l-'i eight. —Steamer £1-7-6 to £1-17-6 per ton of 50 e ft. 
THE KECONSTRCCTIOX OF THE LANKA 
PLANTATIONS COMPANY. 
Thic resolution adopted at the recent meeting of 
the above Company practically ensures its re- 
construction in a certain sense and degree. Mr. 
Henry Bois made at that meeting a »tatemeut 
to the effect that the Company had estates 
standing in its balance-sheet at double their 
actual value. It had also a Suspense Account, 
and altogether the sum of £174,000 was sup- 
posed to represent the value of the estates, w hen 
their real present value was something like half 
that amount. It can be little matter for surprise 
that the Directors should regard this state of 
things to be very unsatisfactory. It has, there- 
fore, been very properly determined to have the 
estates valued, and to make the total of the 
resulting valuation the capital of the Company. 
We think that all who have the interest of the 
tea industry of Ceylon at heart will approve of 
the decision now taken. It in only a wonder 
to us that the old system should have been so 
long maintained. Possibly, the fact may explain 
the dissatisfaction that has been stated to exist 
with regard to the system of audit practised, by 
some Companies. The fact further lias an 
important bearing upon the arguments put for- 
ward by Mr. Welton in his several letters to 
the London Times on the subject of auditing 
Companies' accounts generally. If the existing 
system were as thorough as it should lie, we 
can hardly believe that such discrepancies as 
those pointed out by Mr. Henry Bois could 
have escaped public knowledge ; and yet we do not 
consider that the men who have steered the Lanka 
Plantations Company through its many years 
of difficulty, can justly be held responsible for 
the tardiness with which this acknowledgment 
has been made. There has been a talk of great 
difficulty and of unusual circumstances. Origin- 
ally, holding property in coffee estates, the Com- 
pany has bad to revise all its operations, and 
gradually to plant these with the newer product. 
During the years of this transition, the profits 
annually made have been absorbed by the cost of 
re-planting. To have written down the value of 
the estates -while the operation was going on, would 
have been to acknowledge the almost entire loss of 
the capital invested in them. As it is, the 
Company has succeeded in at least pulling half 
of this out of the fire. But it is evidently now 
tjie wiser course to face the matter thoroughly. 
With a fictitious capital, whereupon to declare a 
dividend, the amount of the return must natu- 
rally have appeared disheartening to the share- 
holders, and depreciatory in the eyes of the 
general public. With the capital written down 
to the actual present value of the estates, future 
disabilities in this regard will be avoided, and 
the shareholders will know exactly where they 
stand. We are not aware if any other of our 
Planting Companies occupies the peculiar position 
in which, up till now, the Lanka Plantations 
Company has stood. If there be any such, 
