CHAPTEE X. 



THE JATA BEEET. 



The coffee that occupies tlie highest place in the estimation of 

 the American public, and, with the single exception of Mocha, 

 commands the highest price, is Jama, deriving its name from the 

 island where it is produced, although, as with many other articles 

 of commerce, the name has, to a considerable extent, become a 

 generic one, applying to all coffee of similar character produced in 

 the same part of the world. In point of fact, almost the entire 

 portion of the " Java " coffee consumed in the United States is 

 produced on the Island of Sumatra. It is none the worse for 

 this, however, and indeed the Sumatra coffee is generally pre- 

 ferred by American connoisseurs to that of Java growth. 



In the early history of the industry the propagation of the 

 coffee-plant progressed slowly in Java. It began in 1696 by the 

 introduction of plants from Malabar; but it was not until 1712 

 that the first invoice of Java coffee apeared in the Amsterdam 

 market, consisting of 974 pounds', of which more than one- 

 half was mountain coffee. It was sold for 23f stuivers per 

 Amsterdam pound, equivalent to 431 cents per United States 

 pound. It brought, however, such a high price as to induce 

 strict orders to push its cultivation on a larger scale. Twelve years 

 later, 1,396,486 pounds of this coffee were sold in Amsterdam, 

 and coffee henceforth held undisputed priority among the staples 

 of Java. After a period of comparative inactivity under the 

 management of the Dutch East India Company, the government 

 of the Netherlands established the system of cultivation which is 

 stiU in existence, and which by degrees has developed the pro- 

 duction of Java to its present magnitude. This system is, in brief, 

 a monopoly of the Dutch government. The coffee is raised by 

 the natives under the supervicion of the government, which buys 

 the entire product at a low fixed price, and disposes of it through 



