1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



591 



while still liquid is poiireil iirfo moulds having the 

 fig'ure of architectural ornaments. A similar use 

 has recently hc?.n made of the American hydrau- 

 lic cements, under the sanction of a patent. 



ME^IORANDA. AND REFLECTIONS. 



From tlie Jounuil of a Siiiiercarjokcpt (luring a short residence 

 ill the Dulch East indies. 



Java. — Sugar and Indigo. 



The contracts for sugar, though not on such ad- 

 vantageous terms as those for coffee, still must be 

 exceetliiicily profitable to the government. The 

 old contracts, most.of which will have expired in a 

 year or two, are at the rate 12c. or 110,00 p. picul 

 deliverable always at the gov^ernmi^nt stores. 

 This is at the raie of $2 50 p. 100 lbs — the gov- 

 ernment furnishing to the grower oi" the cane, at 

 an extremely low rate, coolies to work the same, 

 and young cane for planting whhout any charge. 

 They also advaqce to the manufacturer funds lor 

 buihiing mills &c., for vyhich they receive at con- 

 tract prices the sugar until the debt is liquidated, 

 after which they receive annually, at the stipula- 

 ted price, a certain quantity of sugar — any sur- 

 plus IS at the command and un(ier the control of 

 the manufacturer— at the expiration of their con- 

 tracts, the government in every case resume the 

 .lands, (it being part of their policy to continue the 

 only possessors of the soil,) and to the manufac- 

 turer they are bound to allow a fair valuation 

 price for his mills, &c. It is generally the case 

 that the grower of the cane and the manufacturer 

 of the same, are not the same individuals. The 

 sugar, as also the coffee, undergoes an inspection. 

 If it does not come up to the government standard, 

 it is rejecled : this in ordinary times is rigidly ex- 

 acted. The sugar received at contract prices must 

 be two-thirds ol' No. 1, or of inspection first qual- 

 ity, and one-third of No. 2, or second quality, and 

 it is generally turned out b}' the manufactui'er in 

 this proportion, the lower part of the boiler mostly 

 being of No. 2, and sometimes of very inferior su- 

 gar, the upper two-thirds of which is generally 

 superior. The new contracts, are at the rate of 

 9c, equal to f 7 -50 per picul, or about $1 89 per 

 100 lbs. At these rates, J. E. Bancks and friends 

 are as yet the only contractors. It has been found 

 necessary by the government, in order to hold in- 

 dividuals who were contractors, to their agree- 

 ments, and to prevent the frauds which were daily 

 j)ractised to devise some means to compel them to 

 deliver their sugar as agreed upon, and a beslypt 

 or edict has been issued this year, which will ef- 

 fectually prevent them disposing of suf^ars which 

 actually belong to government, and which, in or- 

 der to obtain a little greater price, they conceal 

 and plead inability to comply with their contracts. 



The government never insist upon a compli- 

 ance in any case where they have reason to sup- 

 pose it would greatly inconvenience the individ- 

 ual. No sugars are now to be shipped until a cer- 

 tificate of origin is produced, couhtersie;ned by the 

 resident officers of the port, and signed by the re- 

 sident of the place of origin — this is again signed 

 by the comptroller of customs a-pd regularly noted, 

 alter which a permit for shipping will be granted; 

 the quantity shipped upon this certificate is also 

 noted. One of the methods of deception which 

 has been successfully pi-actiscd is to get the crops 



which are always inspected while growing, false- 

 ly estimated, but this edict will render such decep- 

 tion of no avail to the individuals, and will etfec- 

 tually do away with this system of cheatery. To 

 give .some idea of the method in which this is 

 managed, I will subjoin a statement of the way in 

 which the sugar- estate is valued — say there is a 

 field of 400 cane, if they run fair and are of a 

 flourishing appearance — five-lenlhs of them are 

 noted as young cane. No. 1 — three-tenths as do. 

 No 2 — two-tenths as do. No. 3--lbur canes are 

 then supposed of each to produce one cane at ma- 

 turity. The No. 1, or first quality cane, being in 

 relerence to the quantity of sugar it will turn out, 

 having nothing to do with the quantity of the 

 manufactured article, thus: [ductive in sugar. 

 5-lOths isSOOyounarcane, 50 — ^No. 1, or most pro- 

 3-10thsisl20 " ^ " 30 " 2, less pro'e. 

 2-lOthsis 80 " " 20 " 3, least " 



Product'e 400 100 



It will readily be seen by the foregoing state- 

 ment, that with the contrivance of the inspector, 

 the estate may be undervalued, the cane being 

 pronounced inferior — the planter has only to deli- 

 ver a certain quantit}^, much less than liis con- 

 tract. 



I should have wished here, if possible, to have 

 given the quantities of sugar which are nominally 

 fixed as the product of No. 1, 2, or 3 cane, but 

 was unable to obtain such information. The go- 

 vernment, however, in their contracts, generally 

 estimate 50ps. of sugar as the produce of every 4 

 acres. The sugar districts of Java are the Prob- 

 linsje and Baserkie districts, containing 9 mills, all 

 of which are water mills. Tlie districts of Passa- 

 wang and Malang, with their 14 water mills — 

 Banghill having 4 mills, likewise water mills, and 

 Sourrabaya with its 14 mills, 8 of which are cat- 

 tle and 6 water mills. 



The quantityof sugar produced in 1834, and de- 

 livered in 1835, or in store that year, must have 

 been 280.960 ps. 



Piculs. 



Say from the Prohlinge, &c. districts, 69,000 



Surrabaya district, 19,750 



Passawangand regencies, 155,200 



Free sugars, 37,000 



Making a total of 280,950 



And there is not a doubt that the next crop will 

 greatly exceed that of 1834 and of 1835. The 

 crops of 1S37 1 mean, that produced this year, 

 1836, and deliverable in 1837, is held in anticipa- 

 tion at 400.000 ps. One bow, or four acres of 

 cane, is estimated as capable of 50 ps. of sugar — 

 the cro]) this year will be as much as 65 ps. per 

 bow — an increase of 30 per cent. 



There is a land revenue to be paid by every cul- 

 tivator, on the fertility of the soil, which is deduct- 

 ed from the amount paid by government, for the 

 cane, the amount allowed by government is 4c, or 

 f3,33 per pel. for cane, (all the mills under con- 

 tract to government are numbered and known by 

 this) marked on the sugar basket as the No. of 

 the^ mill and the sugar district from which it 

 comes. 



Mamifadure of Sugar. — The cane beincr ripe, 

 is cut down and bruised, by rolling between two 

 cylinders. The sap which issues li'om the cane 



