Sept. i, 1893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. t6^ 
America, Mexico, or other country where the in- 
dustry is left almost wholly to the free action of 
planters. 
[I don't agree that the old system has served its 
time. If properly maa»ged tlie Governmout could 
slill have btantiful crops and great revenues from 
it. And I am sure it is better fbr our co'ouy that these 
profits come greatly to the Goveriiment, that is to say 
to the whole community then and remam'ng in tho 
Colonies lhan to fill exclusivelythe money bags of 
foreign shareholders dra ijing the capital from Java ex- 
hausting the soil and abandon the enterprife when 
il does not pay more. There is for the cupital still 
a great working told in Java except coffee. I now 
only name cocoh, suga-, kerosine, &o,, aud all should 
be right if the writer in the American piper coull 
offer to the Government a perfect good working 
scheme of new tuxes, balanciug tha revenue of the 
coffee. Bat I think as long as the Javanese ia not 
changing in character a hibit be will prefer selling 
coffee for /15 per perol coffee to the Government, 
then paying a money tax. — Cor.J 
The profits of the Dutch Government have dwindled, 
partly owing to the exhaustion of the s dl. In some 
districts there is Iree cultivation and direct taxation, 
and thia plan is likely to be extended. 
The Financial Minister has pointed out the difficnltiea 
groniug out of fixing an arbitrary uniform price for 
coffee whether grown on the Grown Innds or ou 
private property, viz., 15 florins (^6 00) per picul, 
(133 lb.) [Very difficult in Jeed to manage, because one 
man having an acre of gco 1 soil might get from that 5 
picula at R16 which would be a fioad return, whereas 
a man with the same extent of land but not so good 
soil might only get 2 piculs which would not pay 
his labour. — Cor.] 
As both the buitsbility of the ground for coffee 
growitjg and the couditious of labor vary throughout 
Java, a fixed price beluw the marktt value must 
inevi'ably press unfairly on some growers, an I render 
cultivaiiou unprofitable in sowe paits ot the ielan 1 
where a land tax in pioportion to the net produce 
might have had an oppo-ite effect. Furlhermore, 
in oases where the harvest does make such a price 
remuLeratiTe, it; ia a question whether l'.-6s labor 
might not have been employed with advantage, 
than has hitherto been the oaee, for it is a 
generally accepted maxim in atjricultural k alters 
that when a certain point is reached the application 
of additional labor aud capital does not lead to a 
proportionate increase of production. In coffee culti- 
vation, moreover, thore is the special conoition that 
the quantity aud quality of the crop titpend to no 
small extent upon the time and care bestowed upon 
the gathering ot the fruif, and it furthtrmore dopeodg 
upon the price obtained how far this time and trouble 
are remuuer-itive. Another difficult}- made vtry 
evident by t le report of the commission appointed to 
investigate the matter is the fact that as t'je coffee 
plant only comes into bearing in its fourth year, the 
capital and labor expended are meanwhile unpro- 
ductive, a state of things rendered particularly un- 
Balisfactory in the case of the na'.ive, who is usually 
entirely destitute of capital or ready morey, and 
coustqaeuily has to borrow, if possible. To assist 
this class it haa for some years been the practice of 
Government to nive special advantages for the growth 
of " intermediate " crops, i. c, crops srowa 
between the rows of coffee plants; but this 
syaltni has again cer'ain diealvantages. The fact 
that land Buitablo for coffee cultivation is no longer 
to be found in the neighborhood of the vilUge causes 
the crop to be looked upon as an auxiliary one where 
the cultivator hag other resources to depend upon. 
During the four jeiira that a planter derives no 
income from his coffee he devotes his attention to the 
onllivation of indigenous crops, and enda by regard- 
ing these as his principal s lurcc of income, the coffee 
bell g entirely subsidiary. So that a m&n may plant 
as tew as fifty tri es hunually, thus leaving himself 
ample time to grow other cropc The ca^e of tho free 
coffee farmer is entirely different; he plants cot by 
tans, bat by hundreds and thousands. Ooffco planting 
|( bis pi:iuoip«l buiiaeuy, oooup;iug all bis time and 
resources. To work any coffee plantations of import- 
ance he must either have large means or good credit 
to tide him over the four years of waiting for the first 
lull coffee harvest. 
[This all would be true if the Javanese coffee planters 
had no other revenues. He is generally proprietor of 
gardens, dry and wet rice fields etc.; dry rice fields 
ate named gogo, if irrigated, sawah. — Co/'.J 
A hardship in the case of the na'ive planter under 
Government, mentioned in the Indian reports, is that; 
he bears all risks, so that should any planting tt'^'j 
he may have undertaken by superior orders fai) 
then all his labor is lost. According to % witness 
well able to judge of practical results, lossc.a seldom 
become apparent, because, as yet, they only affeot the 
native population. Such oases may, no 'doubt, be alle- 
viated by the before-mentioned faoiliti'es for growing 
" intermediate " crops. A fourth ch arge against the 
present system of coffee onltiva+'ion is that it is 
imperfect. Although there is Bome diversity of 
opinion as to details, tha mo^t advanodd experts 
ayree that great errors are committed in an agri- 
cultural tense, which have -resulted in a great e'eil 
of unproductive labor fron-i the agriculturist. The 
soil becomes exhausted and nothing ia done to restore 
its fertility, while iu cleering ground for coffee culti- 
vation no allowance is made for the rtquircmenta of 
climate and rainfall. 
[True, but almost the fault of too zealous sub-offioialp, 
but whenthoae are properly superintended it should 
not be possible. — Cor.~[ 
Tbe majority of the commission?, while acknowled- 
ging the objections to a uniform price, sav that 
there is practically no way of escapin? it. AH pro- 
posals made in a contrary sense must in their opinion 
tall when confronted wiih difficulties which they 
consider iusuperable. They therefore confine their 
recommendation to raising the price of coffee from 15 
to 20 florins in addition to giving the pknters other 
advantages, such as facilities for gi owing "in- 
termediate crop", a'-.d advances en the secuiity of 
the harvest for the current year: the chtico of land 
and the system of cultivation to be left practically 
free, and after fivd years all compukory planting to 
be abolished. 
Other plans than those recommended by the com- 
mission have betn proposed, but are not received with 
levour. They include granting a bounty to planters' 
above the purchasing price, and under certain condi- 
tions a remission of taxes. 
One plan which is much advocated by the Direotor' 
of Inland Affairs aud approved by the Governor- 
General is to concentrate the area of Goveinment 
cultivation to certain distiiots (complexen), so that 
they may no longer impede the development of free 
industry. 
The Indian Government does not consider this pro- 
ject as regards districts feabible, although it (le,6irea 
to see the sjstem of granting subventions iu money 
ou farms under Government introduced universally, 
even at the cost of lowering the purchasing price to 
13 florins or 14 florins per picul, against which there 
are weighty objections. The subvention should also 
be granted to anyone who wiil plant coffee voluntarily 
on laud and according to a 6yt>tem approved by the 
authorities. The native preferring to plant according 
to his own system should be free to do so, however, 
on the old terms. 
If tbe cultivation of coffee is to be adopted as a 
national industry, the Council are of opinion that 
Government cultivation should be gradually icstiioled, 
aud free cultivation on a lurger sciile encouraged, a 
measure which would not only increase ihe revenue 
by producing a directly taxable commodity, but ap- 
preciably a Ivanoe the welfare of the people. As a 
beginning, the Oonncil woul i like to see tne principle 
adopted of relinquiehing the system of oompuliory 
supply, wherever it can lie done without very great 
dithcnlty or increase ot police piccautions. — [It is also 
my opinion (hat this is a good way to Kad thi^ 
aUftir.— C'ec.J 
