THE  TROPICAL  AGRICUL'i'URIST. 
ii8 
meetin.i;  'vas  to  consider  resolutions  for  re-arraiig- 
in;'  the  capital  account  witli  the  view  of  bring- 
ing' it  into  close  correspondence  witii  tlie  present 
value  of  the  assets.  Air.  (^uintin  Hogg  jiresided 
on  the  occasion  of  this  meeting.  He  said  he 
thouglit  some  scheme  of  re-construction  would  be 
desiiable,  because,  if  the  assets  were  not  snlli- 
cient  to  meet  the  liabilities  tlicy  must  cither 
reiluce  the  value  at  which  those  assets  stood  in 
the  Company’s  books  or  accumulate  a cash  I’e- 
serve  to  balance  the  deliciency  and  as  a set- oil' 
against  depreciation  on  the  estates.  He  prefer- 
red, he  said,  a live  and  negotiable  security  in 
place  ol  the  present  preference  sharc.s.  In  fact 
the  orelinary  shareholders  could  i)rcvent  any 
money  being  paid  to  the  i)reference  shareholders 
as  long  as  their  assets  ditl  n<>t  represent  the 
value  at  which  they  stood  in  the  book.s.  He 
estimated  the  annual  income  from  their  estites 
at  £-id,OOh.  If  the  meeting  adopted  the  scheme 
proposed,  £tU,00o  of  tliis  would  be  taken  for 
debenture  interest,  and  £5,000  wouhl  be  reriuired 
for  the  payment  on  new  preference  sharc.s.  Of 
the  b.alance,  £-2,500  would  go  to  reserve,  and  of 
the  other  £2,500  one-third  would  go  to  the  pre- 
ference anti  two-thirds  to  the  ordinary  shareholder.s. 
Tlie  board  were  inclined  to  favour  this  scheme  as 
a fair  basis  of  negotiation,  and  they  were  in 
duty  bound  to  submit  it  to  tlie  shareholders, 
Mr.  Welton,  the  oilicial  liquidator  of  the  late 
New  Oriental  Hank,  and  in  that  capacity,  of 
cour.se,  largely  concerned  with  this  jiroposal  con- 
demned the  scheme  as  so  unfair  that  he  did 
not  believe  any  judge  would  sanction  it  if  it 
were  op))Osed.  .Some  of  the  shareholders  moved 
and  seconded  the  appointment  of  a committee  to 
investigate  the  aH'airs  of  the  Com|)any  and  to 
protect”  the  interest  of  the  preference  share- 
holders. Ml.  Slaughter,  who  had  framed 
the  proiiosal  remarked  as  to  this  tliat  be 
and  his  friends  held  05,000  iirefercnce  shares, 
and  it  was  their  object  to  increase  the 
value  of  these.  Another  shareholder  stated  that 
at  present  their  ordinary  shares  represented  no 
\alao  and  -.vere  held  iiy  a syndicate.  'Hie 
idea  at  tlie  back  of  the  scheme,  he  said,  was 
to  increase  tlie  value  of  these.  'I'he  final 
course  ailopied  was  the  appointment  of  four  gen- 
tlemen to  confer  with  the  directors  on  the  scheme, 
to  negotiate  with  the  ordinary  shareholders,  and 
report  to  a subsecpient  meeting.  To  us  ont- 
siilers  the  condition  of  things  e.visting  with  res- 
pect to  this  company  is  exceedingly  dillicult  of 
comprehension.  If  things  be  as  stated,  the  po- 
sition of  the  company  is  not  favourable,  and  one 
is  inclined  to  wonder  how  it  was  that  the  late 
large  sale  of  the  cmniiany’s  debentures  resulted 
so  well.  And  if  tin  sale  was  made  with  the 
facts  mentioned  kejit  liack  from  the  public,  that 
Irausmition  shonhl  seem  to  have  been  maile  under 
false  pretences.  Surely  the  public  would  not 
have  purchased  these  debentures  had  it  been 
aware,  for  instance,  that  the  valuation  of  the 
assets  in  the  company’s  books  was  a fictitious 
value  ! 'i’liat  is  the  first  point  that  must  strike 
tire  uninitiated.  Then  why  should  Mr.  Welton 
iia\e  so  strongly  condemned  the  proposal  to  right 
this  difVerence -f  ft  seem  to  us  that  the  ordinary 
shareholders  may  be  threatening  to  refuse  payment 
of  the  interest  on  the  preference  shares  on  the 
'.-round  that  that  difi’erence  exists.  If  so,  tiiose 
who  lately  purchased  debentures  ouglit  to  have 
a voice  in  the  matter  Hut  we  don’t 
iu-etend  to  wliolly  understand  either  the  scheme 
i.ropoumled  or  I he  intentious  or  desires  of  tiiose 
who  opliose  it.  Only  one  thing  semns  certain, 
and  that  is  that  no  api»eal  should  bo  made  to 
[Aug.  h 1896. 
])ublic  investors  so  long  as  the  value  of  the 
as.sets  in  the  books  is  not  correspondent  with 
tlieir  actual  value.  It  is  to  bo  feared  that  the 
position  is  not  a satisfactory  one,  and  that  the 
revelations  made  at  this  meeting  may  act  in- 
juriously on  the  credit  of  Ceylon  tea  coin- 
jianies  generally.  For  the  general  imblic  will  be 
no  more  able  to  discriminate  as  to  the  bearing 
those  revelations  have  than  we  are  ourselves 
able  to  do. 
MEXICO  A.S  AN  OIL  PIIODUCINO 
COUNTRY. 
According  to  tlie  last  available  statistics,  Mexico 
produced  the  following  quantitios  and  values  of  oil 
seeds  in  1851 : 
Hecto- 
liters. 
Value. 
Sesamum 
. . 17,203 
|37,000 
Earthnut 
70,510 
110,000 
Chi  a 
721 
5,500 
Coquito 
9,802 
20,600 
Cocoanut 
. . 340,500 
1,105,000 
22,000 
Castor 
. . 18,740 
Linseed 
. . 15,578 
45,000 
Hapeseed 
..  77,711 
132, .500 
The  Indian  sesamum,  called  in  Spanish  ajonjoli 
or  aljonjoli,  is  sown  in  February  or  March,  and  is 
reaped  in  April  or  May,  and  in  Mexico  it  yields  500 
per  cent.  Notwithstanding  this,  and  although  there 
is  no  lack  of  proper  soil  for  it,  the  amount  grown 
is  comparatively  small.  Thi.s  is  owing  to  the  want 
of  field  labour  and  tho  small  local  demand.  The 
difficulty  of  transportation  to  tho  seaboard  has  caused 
the  idea  of  shipping  it  to  be  abandoned,  although 
it  would  find  a ready  market  in  Europe.  In  the 
producing  districts  it  can  be  bought  at  from  J>2.75 
to  |8.50  tho  charge  of  138  kilos,  but  the  heavy  cost 
of  mule  transport  to  the  nearest  railway  station, 
and  tho  fact  that  tho  market  is  cornered,  makes  the 
price  at  Mexico  City  about  $8.50  for  the  same  quan- 
tity. Tho  sesamum  is  treated  nowadays  by  hot 
processes,  and  yields  45  per  cent  its  weight  ol  oil,  and 
the  oil  cake  is  a good  food  for  cows  in  milk.  Tho  sesa- 
mum oil,  with  a liberal  admixture  of  olive  oil,  pro- 
duced iu  tho  environs  of  the  city,  is  used  almost  ex- 
clusively for  alimentary  purposes.  The  mixture  is 
called  aceite  do  comer  (eating  oil),  and  sells  retail 
at  about  a shilling  the  liter.  Under  tlie  namos  of 
rose  oil  and  green  oil  it  is  also  used  in  pharmacy  to 
colour  ointments  and  in  making  the  empirical  medi- 
cines of  tlie  country. 
Hapeseed  grows  on  tho  central  plateau,  and  costs 
ill  Blexico  City  from  $1  to  $5  the  chai-ge.  It  yields 
about  35  to  40  per  cent  of  its  oil,  and  many  oil  manu- 
facturers iu  the  country  use  tho  oilcakes  as  fuel  foe 
their  engines. 
Flax  up  to  now  has  hardly  been  cultivated  in  Mexico 
for  the  sake  of  the  seed,  althougli  many  trials  have 
been  made  to  grow  it  for  textile  uses  in  tlic  neigh- 
bourhood of  one  or  two  of  the  larger  towns.  Linseed, 
therefore,  comes  from  a restricted  area,  and  costs 
about  $8.50  tlie  load  at  Mexico  City.  The  J'biropcaii 
oil  could  bo  imported  into  the  country  but  for  tlie 
duty  oil  it. 
Tlie  culture  of  the  olive  was  forbidden  in  colonial 
days,  Spain  wishing  to  preserve  the  monopoly  of  the 
supply  of  olive  oil.  Moreover,  the  climate  of  Mexico 
docs  not  seem  to  agree  2ierfectly  with  the  olive,  which 
prefers  the  dry  soils  ot  temperate  climes  and  ex^io- 
sure  to  tlio  sea  breezes.  It  is  cultivated  only  in  a 
few  villages  near  the  capital.  Tho  fruit  is  small, 
disagreei^ lie  in  taste  and  very  bitter,  Imt  tlie  oil  is 
good,  vvitli  not  too  ))ronouiiced  a ll-ivor. 
Tho  castor  oil  jilaiit  grow.s  in  abiiiidanoc  all  over 
tue  country,  and  iu  the  warmest  soils  it  reaches 
twenty  feet  in  height  and  looks  like  a tree.  About 
hi)  per  cent,  ot  oil  eould  ho  extracted,  but  with  the 
primitive  metliods  in  use  the  actual  yield  is  35  to 
40  per  cent.  A lew  small  fin  tories  lUii  installed  in 
the  iirodiiciii;;  districts,  Ixit  tlicy  do  their  work  badly 
and  relatively  e.xjieusively,  the  cleaning  of  the  seed 
