672 
The  tropical  agriculturist. 
[April  i,  1896. 
more  vacillatiug,  never  falling  into  the  same  notch 
twice  in  two  years.  Bottom  was  touched  in  1892, 
since  which  time  a gradual  rise  has  bcei  noted. 
This  is  accounted  for  partly  by  the  fact  that  manu- 
facturers are  keeping  the  drug  out  of  the  hands  of 
speculators  as  far  as  possible,  and  only  making  enough 
each  year  to  supply  the  legitimate  demands  of  the 
trade. 
The  figures  for  later  years  refer  to  the  foreign 
makes,  some  American  brands  being  a couple  of 
cents  or  so  higher. — Drwjfjist'  Circular,  Feb.  1896. 
DELFT  GKASS. 
The  Pinncipal  of  the  Agricultural  College  write 
to  us  : — 
The  so-called  “ Delft  grass  ” to  which  reference 
w'as  made  by  you,  as  having  been  tried  at 
the  School  of  Agriculture,  was,  so  far  as 
growth  is  considered,  a great  success.  I have  referred 
to  the  experiment  somewhat  in  detail  in  my  an- 
nual report  for  1895.  My  experience  of  the  grass 
as  a fodder  is  that  neither  stud-fed  horses  nor 
cattle  will  eat  it,  but  cattle  at  grass  will  browse  on 
it,  particularly  when  other  natural  grasses  are  scarce. 
Indeed,  it  is  what  I am  informed  is  the  case  even 
in  Delft,  and  it  is  no  doubt  an  advantage  to  have 
such  a grass  as  is  able  to  flourish  when  other  grasses 
fail  owing  to  drought  and  also  that  it  is  not  oaten 
down  except  when  these  latter  are  scarce  in  pasture 
land.  The  grass  (of  which  I forward  a specimen) 
is  variously  known  as  “ geranium  grass,”  “rusa  oil 
grass  " and  “ oil  of  ginger-grass,”  its  botanical  name 
being  Audropogon  Schcenanthus,  var.  versicolor.  It  is 
said  to  be  found  wild  in  parts  of  India  and  some 
accounts  mention  that  it  is  a favourite  fodder  for 
cattle.  From  the  grass  is  extracted  an  oil  which 
is  used  to  adulterate  attar-of-roses.  The  Tamil 
name  for  the  grass  is  “ attar  pillu.  Though  it  is 
supposed  to  exist  in  none  of  the  other  Northern  islands 
except  Delft,  Mr.  William  Ferguson  mentions  that 
it  is  common  at  Wilson's  Bungalow.  It  is  moat 
appropriately  named  the  “ anise-scented  grass,  ’ and 
wnen  bruised  emits  a strong  odour. 
KALE  TAKA  PLANTING  NOTES. 
Bentota,  March  9. 
Weather.— After  a spell  of  23  days  of  scorching 
weather  we  were  last  evening  favoured  with  a small 
shower  depositing  however  only  0'23.  The  drought 
wo  may  say  has  lasted  since  the  29th  January 
reX  lOT  me  only  had  0 47  during  all  Feb.  The 
season  so  far  as  been  very  similar  to  last  yea,r,  last 
year  we  had  6-35  in  Jan.  and  1T9  in  I eb.  This  year 
9-,39  and  0-47.  The  w'eather  has  been  yery  trying 
Oil  the  tea  bushes  especially  those  near  rocks.  Eyen 
the  iungle  shrubs  and  crotons  about  the  bungalow 
are  drooping.  It  looks  cloudy  again  this  morning 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  will  get  a more  liberal  sup- 
ply of  moisture  some  time  during  the  day. 
Health. Not  much  to  complain  of,  on  the  score  of 
health  ; a little  feyer  prevails  mostly  brought  over 
from  other  parts  of  the  country. 
Communication.— Boads  in  good  order  and  Muna- 
malwatta  Bridge  finished. 
Railway.- It  is  surprising  to  find  that  bullock 
carts  can  successfully  compete  with  the  railway,  at 
all  events  as  far  as  Alutgama,  nearly  all  the  bou- 
tique-keepers in  Bentota  and  Alutgama  got  their  goods 
across  by  carts.  This  surely  should  not  _ be.  The 
refreshment  bar  having  taken  up  the  ladies  waiting- 
room,  lady-passengers  are  often  put  to  very 
greater  incontinence.  Then  apm  no  arrangements 
Lem  to  be  made  for  the  third-class  passengers  : fancy 
a third-class  passenger  (female)  travelling  a the  way 
from  say  Matara  with  no  convenience  nearer  than  then- 
destination  which  may  be  Bandarawela. 
Labour  SupPLY.-Sinhalese  labour  fa  ling  off  yearly. 
Punch!  Nona  having  laid  by  a supply  of  silver  bangles 
ftud  good  comboya  to  last  them  tor  some  time  think 
it  not  worth  their  while  to  turn  out  to  pluck  now 
unless  the  flush  is  exceptionally  good  and  they  can 
earn  twice  as  much  a day  as  their  husband?  Tamil 
coolies  are  however  coming  to  the  district  from  India 
more  freely. 
Tea  Flush.— It  is  needless  to  say  the  flush  is 
almost  at  a standstill,  but  on  most  places  the  tea 
bushes  are  in  good  heart  and  only  require  2 or  3 inches 
of  rain  to  make  them  burst  out  with  a rush. 
THE  DKAYTON  (CEYLON)  ESTATES  CO. 
Tlie  ordinary  annual  general  meeting  of  tliis 
Company  w'a.s  held  in  tlie  registered  office 
(Messrs.  Julius  Creasy’s)  on  10th  March.  Pre- 
sent : — Messrs.  A.  W.  S.  Sackville  (in  the  cliair), 
C.  Wilson  Wood,  H.  Whitham  (Secy.),  C.  J. 
Donald,  A.  H.  Dunsmure  and  F’.  Liescliing. 
Notice  calling  the  meeting  was  read  and 
THE  ANNUAL  REPORT 
was  submitted : — 
The  Directors  beg  to  submit  the  annual  balance 
sheet  and  profit  and  loss  account  for  the  year  end- 
ing 31st  December  1895. 
After  providing  for  depreciation  of  buildings  and 
machinery  the  balance  of  profit  available  is  R58,009‘95. 
The  Directors  propose  tnat  a dividend  of  six  per 
cent  be  declared,  making  with  the  interim  dividend 
of  nine  per  cent  fifteen  per  cent  for  the  year,  and 
the  balance  R15, 109-95  be  carried  forward  to  next 
year’s  account. 
The  crop  of  tea  secured  from  the  Company’s 
Estates  was  346,695  lb.  against  an  estimate  of 
330,000  lb.,  and  there  wore  also  24,051  lb.  tea  made 
from  Cwm  leaf.  The  Gwm  estate,  consisting  of 
90  acres  tea  in  full  and  partial  bearing,  has  been 
leased  by  the  Company  for  a period  of  three  years 
from  July  1895,  at  a rental  of  R4,.500  per  annum. 
The  total  cost  of  the  370,746  lb.  tea  after  deduct- 
ing profit  on  made  tea  for  other  estates  was  27-04 
cents  per  lb.,  exclusive  of  depreciation,  and  estimat- 
ing that  the  tea  unsold  will  fetch  574  cents  per  lb.  the 
net  value  realised  for  the  whole  crop  will  be  60  07 
cents,  showing  a profit  of  33-03  cents  per  lb. 
The  Company’s  properties  consist  of — 
Drayton  : — Acres. 
Tea  in  Bearing  . , . . 674 
Young  Tea  . . . . 95 
Grassland  . . . . 8 
Timber  . . . . 10 
Forest  . . . . 17 
Waste  Roads,  Ac..  ..  79 
Yuilleeield  : — 
Tea  in  Bearing  . . ' . . 200 
Young  Tea  . . ...  10 
Forest  and  Timber. . ..  15 
Waste  . . . . . . 8 
Total  acres  . . 1,116 
The  estimated  crop  for  1896  is  400,000  lb.  to  cost 
cents  27  F.  O.  B. 
Mr.  V.  A.  Julius  resigned  his  seat  at  the  Board 
on  his  departure  from  the  island,  and  the  Direc- 
tors elected  Mr.  F.  Liesching  a Director  in  his  stead. 
In  terras  of  the  articles  of  Association,  Mr.  F. 
Liesching  retires  from  the  Board  by  rotation,  but 
is  eligible  for  re-election. 
The  shareholders  will  be  requested  to  appoint  an 
Auditor  for  the  current  year. — By  order  of  the 
Board  of  Directors, 
Harry  Whitham,  Secretary. 
Colombo,  2nd  March  1896. 
The  Chairman  moved,  and  Mr  Dun.smurr 
seconded  the  adoption  of  the  report. — Report 
adopted. 
A dividend  of  6 per  cent  was  declared,  making, 
with  the  interim  dividend,  15  jter  cent  for  the 
year,  and  tiie  balance  wa.s  carried  forward  to 
.sliare  account. 
Mr.  Liesching  was  elected  a Director,  and  Mr. 
Hercules  Scott  re-appointed  auditor, 
