JAVA 137 



the existing culture-system, " which may result in a 

 sacrifice of certain interests in order to secure otlier 

 uncertain advantages." The favourable points of the 

 case are that during the last two or three years a con- 

 siderable area has been newly planted on cleared lands 

 in eastern Java, and the cultivation of the disease-resisting 

 Liberian tree has been largely instituted in the low-lying 

 grounds. In spite of the events of recent years, the 

 island is only surpassed by Brazil in the value of its 

 annual crop. The Pasuruan and Preanger districts to- 

 gether furnish more than half of the entire quantity 

 grown upon the island. 



Sugar, like coft'ee, was formerly a Government 

 monopoly, but is no longer so, and the greater proportion 

 of it is grown by large companies. It is the most valu- 

 able of all the island exports, for Java again holds the 

 second place in the production of this article, and only 

 yields to Cuba. The growth of sugar is an old industry 

 which has much increased of late years, for while at the 

 beginning of the present century the annual crop was 

 only 6000 tons, that of 1890 amounted to 400,000 tons, 

 of which 362,-344 — valued at over £4,000,000— were 

 exported. The production has been very steady since 

 1884, and the improved returns of 1890 are ascribed 

 to a new system of cultivation. Surabaya is the centre 

 of the principal sugar-growing districts. 



Although the three crops above mentioned — rice, 

 coffee, and sugar — may be said to be the staples of 

 Java, the island yields many other valuable products in 

 great abundance. The cinchona bark obtained in 1890 

 was not far short of 7 million lbs., and the estimated 

 crop for 1891 nearly 8 million, or about four-sevenths 

 of the world's consumption. Of greater value still is the 

 tobacco, the worth of tlie 1890 crop being estimated at 



