VI 



but it is principally to their agriculture that most of the attention 

 is paid. 



The heavy and frequent tropical rains, a temperature in point 

 of fact the same during the whole year, a loose and fertile soil, 

 the conditions very often experienced in the equatorial region, are 

 essentially favorable to the development of agriculture. 



Provided the latter is carried on in a not too irrational way, 

 diversified and large crops are yielded, which the soil of the tem- 

 perate countries can by no means produce. 



Among those favoured countries, the Dutch East Indies 

 hold a Jirst place. Their insular climate is a warrant against 

 the excesses of temperature and drought, and on the other hand, 

 the generally volcanic nature of the rocks gives rise to an easy, and 

 therefore rapid, disaggregation. 



' To these happy natural conditions, the isle of Java, espe- 

 cially, add another, not less important, to wit: the abundance of 

 labourers. 



With its thirty millions inhabitants, Java constitutes one of 

 the most densely populated countries in the world. In fact, although 

 still far from haviog attained to the pitch of agricultural perfec- 

 tion which it undoidjtedly will do in time, the whole of its agri- 

 cultural development surpasses already all that is seen in other 

 tropical colonies. 



It is for the purpose of giving an idea of this remarkable 

 development that the author has made the present work. 



A long administrative carreer has led him to the highest 

 functions of the Government of the Interior. Better than anybody 



