140 OTHER VARIETIES. 



All coffees raised under the supervision of the govern- 

 ment are disposed of through the agency of the " Nether- 

 lands' Maatschappy," or Trading Company, at the 

 periodical (quarterly) auction sales held in Batavia or 

 Amsterdam, the sales occurring in the months of March, 

 June, September and December. It is offered for sale 

 only in limited quantities — from one to two hundred 

 picul lots — no purchaser being permitted to buy more 

 at a single bidding, the prices varying at each sale, being 

 regulated by the quantity offered and the number oi 

 orders received by the agents or brokers to buy, so that 

 parties purchasing two or more lots cannot calculate 

 what the average cost will be until the sale is ended. 



Plantation — Or " Private Growth Javas," are so 

 termed from being grown on plantations owned and 

 operated by private or individual planters, and in con- 

 tradistinction to that raised under government super- 

 vision. Being grown from selected seed, under the best 

 agricultural conditions and scientific cultivation, it pro- 

 duces a quality of coffee that cannot be surpassed for 

 size, style, color, regularity and general intrinsic merit. 

 It is also marketed differently from the government 

 system, being disposed of by contract or tender, that is, 

 as soon as the quantity and quality of the crop can be 

 estimated, the planters issue a circular letter or note to 

 the principal firms of Batavia and to the representatives 

 of European and American houses, informing them of the 

 facts and soliciting bids for the entire crop. Proposals 

 are received and the coffee sold to the highest bidder; 

 but if, according to the planter's views, the offers are too 

 low, he claims the right to reject them and hold the 

 coffee for a better market. If accepted the coffee is care- 

 fully picked over, assorted and transported to the shipping 



