The eighth annual general meeting of shareholders of the Culty Dairy Ca., Ld. was held at the offices of the secretaries and agents, Messrs. J. Bisset & Ca., No. 1 The Eund, Shanghai, on Monday. afternoon. Mr. Philip Peebles presided and was supported by Dr. E. L. Marsh and Mr. R. F. C. Master, Directors. The total number of shares represented was 6,045.
The Secretary having read the notice convening the meeting, the Chairman said:—Gentlemen, The Reports and Accounts have been in your hands some days and I will, with your permission, take them as read. There is little I can tell you about the year's work, which has been one of steady progress, with few, if any, outstanding features. During the year under review we have reached our record milk sales, and it is satisfactory evidence of the popularity of our products that we are still unable to meet all the demands for milk, cream and butter. The limit of our stable acconimodation is now almost reached, and before we can make any extensive additions to our herd we shall be obliged to add further accommodation. This matter is now under the serious consideration of your Directors.
In my remarks last year I congratulated the shareholders on the very low death and discard rate for the year, and expressed the opinion that it was exceptionally low and that higher rates must be looked for in normal years. Our deaths and discards this year amount to 30 in number and represent act book value of Tls. 8,437—not a heavy death rate for so large a herd. We have added by purchase 21 cows and by natural increases 21, giving a total herd on October 31, of 244.
Early in the year we engaged the services of Mr. Aegaard as assistant manager. A very considerable de-urred before we were able to secure the services of a suitable man, and in Mr. have a very satisfactory getic assistant. Hig arrival will make it possible to permit Mr. Sord to go on leave to Europe next spring, where, in addition to taking a well-deserved holiday, he will look into some of the latest developments in dairy work in Denmark, France and England.
All purchased foodstuffs have increased considerably in cost and this to a large extent discounts our increased milk production, for as you will notice from the accounts that, whereas our gross sales are increased, our general expenses are also increased and by a slightly larger amount; this is due largely to the increased cost of food. Not only has food been more costly, but it has been difficult to obtain the necessary food of a really good quality; we have, however, recently found a source from which we can get an excellent quality of cotton cake. The absence of hay, and the difficulty of obtaining green forage, are two of the questions which are receiving attention and. a satisfactory solution of these will help considerably towards improved milk production and the. prosperity of the dairy. Since the. closing of the accounts the dairy has been visited with another outbreak of rinderpest which resulted in the loss of 60 head of cattle,, about half of which were young heifers which had not reached—the milking stage, and the remainder were milk cows. The cause of the disease was very carefully studied by Dr. Pratt and the management of the dairy, and although there: were isolated cases amongst the older cows, which we thought were: immune, the large majority of our own bred cows escaped. The out~ break was more puzzling in its effect on our young stock, and Dr. Pratt is making a careful study with a view to trying to discover wherein the inoculation of these heifers was at fault. As you are perhaps aware, very little is known Of the disease and we are at pre~ sent unable to offer any explanation of the cause of the recent outbreak.
train conditions which we think may be open to suspicion have been rectified and we are endeavouring to get further information on the subject generally. Thanks to the cattle reserve which we have built up during the past two years, we are able to recommend the payment of a final dividend on the same scale as last year without discount jug our work for the coming year.
Of the accounts there is little need add. The principal differentes in working account, as compared with last year, are the increased fail sales and the increase in genral expenses; the latter being, as I said before, mainly due to increased cost of food, and to a lesser extent the increased cost of manage~ ment due to the engagement of the assistant manager.
Profit and loss account explains jteclf; in it we deal with. all losses by death and discards and the general. depreciation on our dairy buildings and accessories.
On the liability side of our balance sheet we show our cattle reserve amounting to Tls 9,914.51, after deducting the difference be~ tween the natural appreciation in the value of our herd and the loss by death and discards. To this we propose to add Tls. 10,000 from our profit and loss account balance this year, which will have. the effect of leaving a balance substantially the same as that appearing in the accounts after we have written off the loss due to the recent outbreak. There is. I think, only one item on the assets side of the balance sheet to which I need refer, viz, the amount of Tls. 1,382 refunded to the purchaser of our Route Doumer property. This represents the value Of a small part of our old property which was included by a misunderstanding in the sale negotiated last year, and the refund was arranged between the purchaser and ourselves as a just and proper way of setting the matter right.
I think there is nothing more on which I need remark, but should
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.