44 
tm TROPICAL AGtHCtlLTtTRiST. 
[July i, 1901 
Keid have as tnany lots as he chose, miop- 
pased ; and so it came to pass that the 
Company got all they wanted, except perhaps 
the two hlocks which now constitute the 
Handringham and Yarravale estates of the 
Balmoral Company. The price paid the 
Crown lor the 3,125 acres in Diyagania must 
have averaged about RlSO per acre. But 
we are hastening on a little too fast. 
A LIMITED COMPANY. 
The original idea of warm-hearted, impulsive 
Graeme Elphinstone in entering the ulti- 
ma thule of the Agras was to plant cinchona 
and to form a Limited Company, largely 
in the interests of Superintendents and men 
of small means. Next followed a Coffee 
Company, the original Prospectus of which 
as we have found it among old papers is 
so interesting, historically and economically, 
that we venture to reproduce it in full: — 
" THE DIMBOOI.A COFFEE COMPANY, LIMITED. 
CAPITAL K300,000. 
"IN 8,000 SHAKES OF RlOO EACH. 
(WITH POWER TO INCREASE TO 8500,000.) 
" Provisional Directors :— Messr;?. G H D Elpliio- 
stone, J F McLeod, H G Humphreys, W M Govv, 
Geo. Beck, J L Sliand, W H Anderson. 
Hon. Secretary.— H G Humphreys. 
Banker.?.— Oriental Bank Corporation, 
Legal Adviser.— Filzroy Kelly. 
"Prospectus :— Tlie success attendinjr the forma- 
tion of tlie Ceylon Cinchona Company has inilaoed 
many Planters in Dnnboola to nin.ke tin eli' n cto 
make an effort to promote a similar Company, for 
the purpose of planting coffee, under the facilities 
afforded by the Limited Liability Ordinance. 
" Ids proposed topurcbase, if possible in conti- 
guous lots, about 1,000 acres of Forest Land in 
tlte Agras, and to bring them into cultivation as 
rapidly as circumstances admit. 
"Knowing that the Land can be purchased, and 
that it can be brought into bearing under £40 per 
acre (a liberal, and in the absence ot all Agency 
and Interest charges, a perfectly safe estimate) a 
capital of £30,000 will be required. This it is pro- 
posed to raise in 3,000 shares of £10 each. Ten 
shillings to be paid on application for shares. Ten 
shillings on allotment : £2 on the purchase of tlie 
land and the remainder as required, but probably 
in sunss of £3, £2, £2 at intervals extending over 
18 months or 2 years. 
" Power will be taken to increase the Capital of 
the Company so that the Shareholders may avail 
themselves of any favorable opportunity of acquir- 
ing good Estates which may be thrown on the mar- 
ket "and the Company will also be authorised to 
issue Debentures on tlie security of such purchase?, 
should it appear to the Directors desirable to do 
80. The object of this provision is to increase 
the purchasing power of the Company without 
increasing the Capital on which Dividends are to 
be paid, and it is anticipated that a fair amount 
of money can be borrowed on such Debentures at 
Seven per cent. 
' As this prospectus will circulate among those 
who are aware of the value of Coffee property when 
well selected and well planted, it is needless to 
urge any argument in support of the proposed en- 
terprise. It will afford I o those unable to purchase 
a whole Estale to themselves, a favorable oppor 
tuuity of becominf,' directly interested in a -valua- 
ble property, and it will also provide a most 
desirable inveslmeat. 
" A genera! meeting of Shareholders will be called 
when t!ie wiiole amount of shares has been taken 
up, to elect Directors and a p-.iit Secretary, and 
to make such Articles of Association under the 
direction of liie legal adviser of the Company, as 
may be deemed necessary. In the meantime, to 
avoid delay, the promoters — who are acting — have 
purchased at a fair premium, 230 acres of land 
sold two liionths ago by the Crown, reported to be 
one of the finest blocks available, and on which 
felling operations are now progressing. 
HISTORIC BUT W'ORTHLESS " SCRIP." 
This appeared in 1874; but the Company was 
not successfully floated until 1876-7 and Mr 
DickLauder (who began in 1877) took, 
up the management of the property with 
which he has ever since been connected, in 
1878-9. One of the first steps taken by the 
Manager, was to trace a good wide bridle road 
right round the amphitheatre, through the 
forest, at an easy height above the Valley. 
This r-oad. 6^ miles long, was made by Mr. 
A. B. Taylor and it at once enabled the 
felling of the different forest lots, let to 
contractors, to be conveniently inspected 
and the work to be readily carried out. We 
need not follow the history of the property 
in coffee or the downfall of " the Dimbula 
Coffee Company." We wonder how many 
have preserved their " Scrip " of this once 
popular Company? We ventured to take away 
one or two specimens from Diyagama ; and it 
is intererting, if saddening, to note the 
Directors' signatures, andthe sever;'! transfers. 
One share certificate before us purports to 
shew that Bwen W. H. Cameron of Dimbula 
is the holder of 5 shares and this is signed 
by " Noel H. Harris," whom we so well 
recall as Major K.A. and who died as 
General still holding estate property in 
Ceylon ; the other Director's signature was 
the well-known and ever-sanguine " G.H.D 
Elphinstone." The first and second calls 
of K25 each were paid in March 1874 ; and 
in September 1876 these shares were trans- 
ferred to " Eosa Dick-Lauder " and in Sept. 
1882 to the " Right Hon'ble John Dalrymple, 
Earl of Stair," and eventually in 1885 to 
"J E A DickLauder." Altogether 6 calls 
were made up to November 1881, aggregat- 
ing R305 ! ' Precious little these early 
holders of shares ever got ; for the Diya- 
gama coffee came in for the full blast of 
the dire fungus as soon as it got into 
bearing, and by 1881-3, things were very 
gloomy, and shortly after became hopeless. 
There was nothing for it, but a new Com- 
pany as pointed out by the veteran Frank 
Saboaadiet'c, in a letter which deserves to 
* We may be told this is by no means the 
only "scrip" ot ancient lineage and unprofitable 
result. We have chanced, for instance, on a 
specimen of "The Ceylon Tobacco Company, 
Limited "—R500,000 in KlOO shares— and all fully 
paid up between 1889 and 1891 when a fortune 
was to be realised ! But then nearer home, and 
more recently, we had the unfortunate " Ceylon 
Spinning and Weaving Company " and then 
not, a fevv other unfortunate Ceylon Planting 
Coinpauiua. 
