SUMATKA AND OTHER JAVA SORTS. 



83 



From the above it will be seen tliat there were placed at the 

 disposal of the government in each of the three years an average 

 of 1,146,000 piculs (165,856,000 pounds), of which 333,000 piculs 

 (45,288,000 pounds) were produced on private plantations. The 

 average in 1866-68, ten years previous, was 1,012,000 piculs 

 (137,632,000 pounds) government; 201,000 piculs (27,336,000 

 pounds) private account, or a total of 1,213,000 piculs (164,968,000 

 pounds), showing an increase in the crop, during the ten years, 

 of 266,000 piculs (36,176,000 pounds), or 21^ per cent. 



The term " Old Government Java" arises from the fact that 

 the Dutch government formerly held considerable quantities for 

 a long time before selling it, and as this was usually of very good 

 quality, " Old Government Java " soon became a trade term denot- 

 ing the highest quality. Of late years, however, this term has 

 been used somewhat indiscriminately to designate all brown Java, 

 whether packed in the old style of government bag containing 

 about one hundred and thirty-six pounds, or in the smaller grass 

 mat holding one-half picul (65 to 68 pounds), the latter style 

 being preferred in the American market. ]^o other coffee ac- 

 quires, except by artificial means, the dark yellowish brown shade 

 that marks the Java and Sumatra bean, which color governs, 

 in a great measure, its commercial value. Another very good 

 indication of genuineness is the size of the bean, which is con- 

 siderably larger than that of other kinds of coffee, excepting 

 Liberian. There is, however, some coffee produced in the other 

 islands of the Malay Archipelago which does not differ materially 

 in size of bean or general appearance, but which, as a rule, is in- 

 ferior in flavor; this is packed in gi-ass mats of the same 



