November i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
479 
• There i 
has becomi 
—that of t 
nag and P 
in Europe 
which largi 
to be rems 
and Auieric 
adapting t 
Liaria tk H 
PLANTING IN MANILA, 
a local industry, which for some time 
extraordinarily extended in this quarter 
e manufacture of common hats from Bali- 
igasiuan These hats are iu great demand 
o(l America, especially in the latter, from 
orders have heen sent to Manila. It is 
led that a «ood business is done in Europe 
after receiving these hats, by altering and 
•m to suit the" taste of customers there.'' — 
a. well informed person who has been 
applying himself to studying statistics, and who in- 
vesti'"ites whatever can contribute to give greater 
knowledge of the riches of this country, assures us 
that the production of sugar in I he Philippines during 
the present years may exceed 200,000 tons. These 
figures place the Philippines in an honourable position. 
Ii ie certain that in year to come, the production of 
this valuable article will go on increasing here." — 
Comercio 3rd Sept. 
"To Cojj'e.e growers. — We have seen a telegram from 
Spain dated yesterday, announcing a further fall in 
the prices of coffees from these islands, and ?reat 
reluctance on the part of consumers to buy Philippine 
coffee, of which thero are new large stocks iu the 
Peninsula. The nominal price was $18 per Caetilian 
quintal. This explains the complete stagnation of busi- 
ness hero as to transactions with this article which 
finds no buyers at SI, 353 If holders here do not 
lower their rates we forsee that the stocks in hand will 
believe thai the quantity stored in Mam 
to 10,000 piculs. Wo are informed 
attention has been drawn to the quick 
stored Philippine coffee loses the gree 
that from Porto Rico, Cuba, and Mex 
colour longer. Hence the latter desc; 
in demand and is quoted at higher rat.s 
these islands. Probably this is owinj 
mode of collection in this country, pe 
haste to pluck the berries, from the ti 
draw the attention of planters to it, 
vostig.ting the origin of this serious d 
be able to remedy and thus enables T 
to recover its repute. Notwithstandin 
believed here to bu superior to con 
countries, it must have become deteri 
is quoted in the European markets at i 
— Strait* Times. 
■WW. PLANTING ENTERPRISE IN SUMATRA 
Regarding i'cli, Langkat, and Serdang, the Samarang 
Vaderlaml of the 22nd August contains an article in 
which the origin of planting enterprise there and its 
ntnl a are thus set forth : — 
Twenty-five years ago the Siate of Siak, which now 
forms the central portion of the Residency of the 
Eastern Coast of Sumatra, was connected with the 
Netherlands Indian Government by rather weak ties. 
The N. herlands had concluded several engagements 
with the Sultan of that State, but evideutly moro 
■ytnpathywas felt there for the British, which is very 
Mcplieable from the active trade between that territory 
and Singapore. It was not until one Wilson attempted 
to e*tal lista a second Sarawak at Bukit Baru and 
Klapa Pati, and tho Sultan applied f. r the aid of the 
N. I Government against him, that Siak was actually 
brought amier Netherlands authority. This happed in 
18.1S. In the following years, the numerous dependencies 
ofSal visit, d by Mr. Nets her then lasuioutof Rhio 
anil engagements were entered int. nicc.-MVely with the 
Madmen and people whereby they (acknowledged the 
supremacy of the Netherlands. The Resident also 
exerted himself to call attention to the fact that the 
insignificant trade of these petty states was far be- 
low the productive power of the country, and also 
to encourage enterprising Europeans b> settle there. 
He wrote on the subject to a trustworthy inhabitant 
of Batavia advising him to send a competent person 
to make inquiries on the spot. The result was that 
in 1803 Mr. J. S. G. Gramberg, from whose articles 
in a magazine in Holland, we derive these p .rticulars, 
undertook a voyage to the east coast of Sumatra. 
He visited all the coast districts in Malacca Straits, 
entered into negotiations with the Sultan of Siak, 
brought with him to Batavia specimens of native 
produce, and showed that a European settlement in 
those districts would have every chance of proving a 
success. The mercantile community of Batavia, re- 
maining faithful to their traditional policy of unwilling, 
ness to invest money in euterprizes in little kno«n place-: 
Mr. Gramberg met with discouragement and, for a long 
time, it appeared as if all the pains and trouble he bad 
taken would be in vain. At last, one enterprising person 
came forward. He asked for information, received the 
most recent specimen of tabacco Mr. G. had brought, 
and decided on going to Deli to start a tabacco 
plantation there. This first pionper of planting en- 
terprise on the East coast of Sumatra was Mr. Jacobus 
Nieuhuys, who first set the business on toot on 
behalf of Mr. Van Arend, and became afterwards 
tobacco planter on his own account in Deli. The 
splendid results yielded by the first tobacco crops in 
Deli are generally known. The excellent quality of 
this product caused so great a sensation in the 
European market that, soon, Hollanders, British, 
Germans, French, and Danes came in grea' i numbers 
to settle iu that fertile district, and several Com- 
panies were established with the object of cat rying 
on the planting business on a large scale. The Co- 
lony thus growing with such unusual rapidity had, 
however, to struggle through many difficulties. Trade 
increased to an extent never before known. The 
native princes and chiefs profited much mean- 
time. Some of them became wealthy, but they 
cared little about order and security, and the Euro- 
pean authorities station, d at Rhio and represented 
iu Siak by only an Assistant Resident with limit- 
ed jurisdiction had not sufficient power to ensura 
the same. It was not until 1873, when the East 
coast of Sumatra was formed into a separate province 
and an Assistant Resident stationed at Deli, that 
this state of thiugs began gradually to improve. That 
this was necessary becomes apparent when attention 
is paid to the rapid incr ase of the foreign por- 
tion of the population. Before 1SG2 there was 
not a single European in Deli and the-e were only a few 
Chinese retail dealers and revenue farmers. In 1864 
there were only three European planters n< ar Labuan 
Deli, the chief town. Iu 1807 there were already 1.000 
Chinese, chiefly coolies and the export of tobacco 
reached 1,300 piculs. 
Further statistics show that in 1874 the estates held 
by Europeans were 23, beinj 10 more than in the pre- 
vious year, planted with 31,295,555 trees yielding 
19,6 12 piculs of tobacco. In 187li there were 75 estates 
with 7,000 coolies and the population wer 124 Euro- 
peans. 9 Arabs, 7,007 Chinese, 774 Foreign Orientals, 
and 30,204 natives. This increase of population, chiefly 
in t' e foreign ••lemen\ indicates the expansion .•!' trade 
and industry. In 1«77 the estates were 87 in number, 
of which some were afterwards abandoned au 1 nutmeg! 
and coconuts were also planted, the latter proving 
however, unremunerative. The Official Colonial report 
for 1880 givis 70 us the number of estates, legally 
established in 1S79 under contracts sanctioned by the 
Eur mean authorities namely, 89 in Deli, 22 in Langkat 
and 9 in Serdang. As to production, the above report 
states that, on almost all the estates tobacco was cul- 
