Nov. 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
349 
VANILLA IN CEYLON. 
A" NEW PRODUCT— AS AN ADJUNCT <rO TEA. 
We commend the following practical re- 
max'ks to the attention of planters up to 
2,000, 3,000 and in some climates even 3,300 
feet above sea-level. To have two or three 
acres of vanilla netting Rl, 000 per acre is an 
addition to an estate's income, not to be 
despised : — 
{By an experienced Planter.) 
Given a favorable season, vanilla cviltiva- 
tion — at the present price of the staple — is 
a most lucrative one , but the plant is keenly 
susceptible to climatic influences in its crop- 
pinsr. 
An acre of vanilla, properly planted, can 
easily give 2001b of prepared pods, its pre- 
seiit market value in Mauritius is R19 per lb. 
In Madagascar, Bourbon, Mauritius and 
Seychelles it is subject to a disease which 
sometimes completely wipes out the van- 
illeries ; but the inhabitants are not dis- 
heartened — they open up and plant other 
land to replant on diseased land is useless. 
The market value of vanilla depends on the 
latter being gathered at the proper stage- 
almost to a single day — and on its prepara- 
tion. The latter appears easy, and many a 
crop has been spoiled through a novice im- 
agining he 'knows all about it' after having 
seen a few hxmdred pods prepared. Only 
very careful observation and much practice 
will ensure satisfactory results in the pre- 
paration vanilla. 
The plant is not jealous as to altitude. It 
grows and flowers freely from sea-level up 
to 2,000 ft. in the islands mentioned. It re- 
quires a moist heat and a fair amount of 
rain, but is intolerant of anything approach- 
ing swampy and ill-drained land.— E. H. E. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
The Apathy of SHAREHOLDERs.-^The letter on " Tea 
Oompanies and their Policy," which appeared in the 
Financial Times some two months ago, under the 
signature "Ex dividend," and was quoted in these 
columns, has drawn forth a note of sympathy from 
a correspondent serving with the Army in South 
Africa. This letter signed " Anglo-Indian," seems 
to be in harmony with the views of " Ex Dividend " 
about the apathy of shareholders in tea companies. 
" Anglo-Indian," who jearns after some kind of re- 
form in the management of tea companies, says : 
" The general apathy of tea shareholders is a thing 
to be deplored, most general meetings of tea com- 
panies consisting of a gathering of directors and their 
friends. Being a shareholder in. one of the largest 
tea companies registered in London, the working of 
the estates of. which I was familiar with, I issued 
to the shareholders towards the end of the season 1897 
a circular letter, in which I pointed out the reckless 
expenditure which was adopted by the company. 
Further, I particularised tlie meagre and conflicting 
accounts invariably presented to the shareholders, 
and suggested certain reforms therein. In answer 
to that circular letter the directors issued a rejoinder 
which was generally acknowledged to be as feeble 
a prodaction as ever was ventilated by a presumably 
intelligent body of officials. I then issued a seco d 
circular letter hoppino; to stir the shareholders to 
combined action, which I pointed out was the only 
hope of reform. Namerous were the apparently 
grateful replies ~I received to both my cir- 
cular letters, and many were the congratu. 
lations I obtained for having displayed several 
defts in the management of the company's affairs, 
not a little prolonged correspondence oocuring with 
some, a few of whom were tea planters of many years' ex- 
perience. Not unnaturally, I expected to find a re- 
presentative gathering of shareholders at the next 
annual general meeting. At that meeting there were 
not over half-a-dozen shareholders present, including 
myself. Two of us had only had any knowledge of the 
tea industry, consequently the directors, assisted by 
one or two shareholders who I was convinced knew 
little of what they were doing, and understood less 
of what they were told, simply transacted business 
as they wished, and they have continued to do so to 
date. The outcome of such absolute apathy on 
the part of the shareholders is shown in the re- 
sults of the last two seasons' working, and 
by the continued meagre ' accounts presented 
to the shareholders, accounts which consist 
almost entirely of a series of bulked items, and are, 
therefore, unintelligible from want of detail. Never 
since the company was first formed have the share- 
holders been told what the estimates were for either 
crop or expenditure for the ensuing season, particulars 
which the directors are always in possesssion of and 
yet do not voluntarily disclose to the shareholderB. 
The auaiting of the accounts is, so far as I can judge, 
a farce, for no accounts such as those rendered to the 
shareholders are capable of being properly vouched 
for. On the other hand, if the accounts have been 
properly audited, the individuals responsible have 
received full and detailed information which has been 
withheld from the shareholders. I fully agree with 
• Ex Dividend ' when he says that the auditor should 
be the servant of the shareh alders." 
INDIAN PATENTS. 
APPLICATIONS FOR THE UNDER-SPECIFIED INVEN- 
TIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. 
No. 330. — Samuel Molyneux Bailie, mechanical 
engineer, Suntok, Assam. A tea-packing machine. 
No. .332. — C S Bivar, tea planter, at present of 
Seconee, Silghat, Assam. Instantaneous wither- 
ing of leaf for the manufacture of tea, whether 
green or black, or for any other purpose for which 
such a system of withering may be suitable. 
No. 347.— Francis Dillon Bellew, licensed branch 
pilot, residing at 22, Royd Street, Calcutta, British 
India. A new or improved blendei' for tea and 
the like. 
No. 3.54.— David Miln Salmond, planter, Maria- 
watte tea estate, Ganipola, Ceylon. Improvements 
in tea-rolling tables. — Indian and Eastern Engi' 
neer, October. i 
— 
RUBBER IN BURMA ANE CEYLON. 
We had a very interesting visitor today 
in Major Wyllie (I.S.C. in Civil employment) 
of Bvxrma, who is returning from leave by 
the ss, "Shropshire." He has for many 
years been interested in Rubber and Gutta 
cultivation, partly in connection with his 
official duties in the Rangoon district and 
has been a student for a long time of 
our Tropical Agricultwist and Planting 
Manuals, particularly that on Rubber 
(1st and 2nd editions). With this interest 
and his well-known botanical and practical 
tastes, it is no wonder that the Burma 
Government thought of Major Wyllie as 
the proper person to take charge of the 
new enterprise, sanctioned by the Vicerfiy, 
whereby 10,000 acres of land in Burma are 
to be devoted to rubber and perhaps gutta 
cultivation. Knowing this enterprise was 
c oniing off. Major Wyllie, while at home, tried 
