th£ tropical agriculturist. 
April I, 1898.] 
717 
AGRICULTURAL SHOWS IN CEYLON. 
The followinjr leaf from the past vill be read 
with interest just at tlii.s juncture when Agricul- 
tural Shows are in the air : — 
List of Prizes awarded by the Agricultural Society 
(of Ceylon) on March 31st, 1815 : — 
No. Description of Articles. Amount. Names. 
£ 
1 Best 4 year old coast bull. . 10 Mr. Tytler 
2 2nd best do . . 4 do 
3 Best cow . . a Mr. J. W. Little 
4 Best yearling bull .. 2 Jayatilleke Mud. 
5 Best 3 year old bull (mixed 
breed) . . 10 Mr. Tytler 
6 2nd do 3| year old . . 4 Mr. Vy'. Austin 
7 Best heifer (mixed breed). . 3 Mr. Gerard 
8 Best native breed cow . . 2 do 
9 Best fatted bullock (any 
kind) . . 3 Mr. Tytler 
10 2nd best do . . 2 do 
11 A coast bull . . 2 Capt. Jolly 
12 Best imported English cow 5 Mr. Lindsay 
13 Best mule . . 5 Mr. Young 
14 Best 3 year old jungle pony 3 Tikiri Banda 
15 Best sow . . 1 Mr. Hamilton 
16 Best bouquet of flowers . . 1 Mrs. Delegal 
17 Fine sample of Peruvian 
cotton , . 5 Mr. Robbe 
18 do silk from Dnmbara.. 10 Dr. Hewlett 
19 Sample of 500 bush Indian 
corn .. 2 Mr. D. A. Watt 
20 Two pumpkins . . i* Tikiri Banda 
21 A very large bunch of 
plantains . . J Mr. H. Steuart 
22 Best cabbage and pease . . i Mr. C. Buller 
23 A pair of fine rabbits . . J Mr. E. R. Power 
24 A pair of black fowls . . | Mr. Tytler 
25 For Mr. Guthrie’s improve- 
ment on the pulper . . 20 —■ 
26 Specimens of tiles and 
bricks . . 1 — 
sion on profits ? Here are the Spectator's remarks at 
fuller length . — 
We all know how under existing conditions the 
work of a Director, which is really of the most onerous 
and responsible kind, has come to be regarded as a 
kind of honorary or titular distinction whereby a man, 
often through doubtful intrigues, makes an income 
without doing any work. At the. meetings of the 
Directors he signs the book and lakes his fee, and 
that is about; ail he does. To “ direct ’’ — to act 
for the Company as the individual business man of an 
earlier stage acted for himself — to check accounts, 
to examine pr.ices, to determine on orders and sales, 
to prevent leakage, all this is beyond his intention, 
perhaps beyond his capacity. We fully admit that nO 
legislation, however stringent, can ultimately protect 
shareholders from dishonesty or incapacity on the 
part of Director's. But at least this can be done,-" 
Directors’ reward can be made to depend upon what 
he is able to earn for the shareholders. The fee 
should be abolished, and a commission dependent on 
and proportionate to profits actually earned, be sub- 
stituted in its place. The great object, it cannot be 
too often repeated, is to compel the Director to direct, 
to make of him a real business-agent instead of a mere 
figure-head, an ornament, or, as in the case of the 
Grosvenor Hotel Coiripany, a mere tool of a profit* 
seeking man. The Grosvenor Directors knew that 
their attendance fees were secure, and they cared for 
nothing else ; the interests of the big-hotel and of those 
who owned it were indifferent matters to these men 
of straw. The Directors must be interested in the 
enterprise, and their reward must be dependent on 
their exertions in behalf of their clients, the share* 
holders; that at least is certain if we are to relieve 
the Company system from the odium and the suspicion 
which, after this extraordinary case, must be held 
to attach to it. For the responsible managers of ft 
commercial undertaking to pocket their rewards and 
shut their eyes to overcharges is intolerable. It is the 
idle and irresponsible Director who is at present the 
weakest spot in the modern business system. 
«5s. Total £101 i 
A NEW WAY WITH DIRECTORS. 
In these days we are told that it is rather difficult 
to catch hold of a Director of a local Tea Company. So 
many of the Companies have done badly, that, perhaps, 
it is not to be wondered at, that, rather than face the 
heated inquiries of disappointed shareholders. Directors 
should be content to “ hide their diminished heads ” 
and be as difficult to find as a profit to divide, or 
ft prophet who can foresee, to any real purpose 1 
Still it is in these times that really good men 
are expected to hold, on to the helm, and the good 
man has always his worth. Directors’ fees 
which, in prosperous days, float in so agreeably and 
at so slight a cost, are now approximating to Dead Sea 
apples ; and the more sensitive a man is, the less does 
he like taking fees from a hungry and starved body 
of shareholders, who can “ bill and coo ” in the golden 
harvest days, but get nasty in “ the winter of their 
discontent.” 
The Londoii Spectator commenting on the 
“ Grosvenor Hotel Case ” suggests that “ the Directors' 
reward can be made to depend upon what they are able 
to earn for the shareholders. The fee should be 
abolished, and a commission dependent on and pro- 
portionate to profits actually earned be substituted 
in its place.” A capital idea if it could be carried out ; 
but we fear that if today a Director of a local Tea 
Company is difficult to catch, he could not be found 
at all if the terms suggested by the Spectator were 
to obtain amongst ns 1 Yet a fee proportionate to 
profits would give less offence than a fixed sum for all 
time, and, besides it should stimulate to good direct- 
orial work ; and moreover would it not lead to a gie» tly 
diminished risk of unprofitable, non paying C-nn- 
panies being started if the Directors — namely me 
promoters — had no prospects save through a commis- 
as 
THE GOVERNORS TRIP IN THE 
EASTERN PROVINCE; 
PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE: FRESH 
COCONUT LAND. 
( Commiinicated. ) 
The Governor's visit to the Eastern Province 
passed off very satisfactorily, and he took great 
ptiins to make himself thoroughly acquainted with 
its capabilities and wants. He was much im. 
pressed with the magnitude that the paddy and 
coconut cultivation had attained and the industrial 
character of the agricultural classes. Three or 
four important me.asures that were laid before 
His Excellency for the further development of the 
Province will receive his immediate attention. 
As regards Coconut cultivation there will soon 
be advertised for sale some e.vcellen*' land near 
the .sea-coast towards the south. Capitalists will 
do well to invest as they will have the oppor- 
tunity of buying large blocks all together if they 
wish it. Coconut cultivation is the thing of thq 
future. 
“RxiMIE;irS CULTIVATION, DECOR- 
TICATION, TREATMENT AND USES,” 
Is the title of a pamphlet just issued by Messrs, 
MacDonald Boyle & Co., of which a copy has 
been sent to us from home, and from which we 
quote some practical paragraphs as follows : — 
lu au Es ale of, say 1,20 j acres, we advocate the 
laying ouc of 3-acic blocks — two acres of which under 
cultivation, aud the remaining ^cre, is devoted to paths 
