CH. IX JOVBNEY THBOUGH MINAHASSA 229 



The most favourable soil for coffee is the rich black vol- 

 canic ash that covers the mountain slopes in many parts of 

 North Celebes. The trees grow and produce fine large berries 

 up to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. The finest and 

 largest plantations are in the Tondano district, at a height 

 of between 1,500 and 2,500 feet. 



Until quite recently, coffee was a Government monopoly 

 in Minahassa. The plantations were chosen by and in the 

 charge of the Controleurs, all the labour being performed 

 by the natives under the direction of their local chiefs. 

 The Government paid the chiefs a certain price per pikul 

 for the coffee, sufficient to pay the wages of the labourers 

 and leave a small surplus for their own benefit, and then 

 it was brought down to the magazines in Manado and 

 shipped to Holland. At the present time there are a few 

 plantations held by private firms, but the majority of them 

 still belong to the Government. First-class Manado coffee 

 is said to be the finest the world produces. It certainly 

 commands a very high price in the Amsterdam market, 

 where the Austrian and Eussian buyers compete with one 

 another to obtain it. 



A few years ago Minahassa was quite free from that 

 terrible scourge, the ' coffee-leaf disease,' but it has since 

 made its appearance in the southern districts, and notwith- 

 standing the efforts that are being made to stamp it out, it 

 is greatly to be feared that it will spread. 



Besides the fungus disease, the coffee has many other 

 enemies. In the Kelelonde gardens rats and mice were a 

 great scourge. These rodents seem to have a fancy for 

 the succulent stalks of the berries when they are nearly ripe, 

 and they nibble at them until the berries fall. The large 

 long-haired black rat (Mus xanthnrus) is one of the worst 

 offenders in this respect. 



In every garden there are a certain number of ordinary 



