240 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
Calancas and Huayobamba. In the districts of 
Pampas and Calancas, there are about 80 small pro- 
prietors of coca plantations ; at Compin the number 
exceeds 100, while at Chuquilanqui there are hardly 
20, the cultivation of coca having only wdthin the last 
few years been introduced in the latter district. 
The latest quotation for Coca leaves in London 
is only 7d to 8d per lb. 
-♦ 
PLANTING IN JAVA : COFFEE. 
Soerabaya is a “ slummy ’’-looking place — narrow 
streets — lots of mud and the roads rutty and bumpy 
enough to shake the liver out of one ! To the stranger 
passing along the streets two things are especially 
noticeable ; first, the marked absence of Chinese 
(happy Soerabaya !) and secondly, the happy, contented 
and inteHUjent look of the natives of the place — from 
a cursory glance I should say a much superior type to 
the Javanese we get in the Straits. In Soerabaya 1 was 
given some coffee figures which fairly took my breath 
away. I have more to collect and will give the whole 
lot together. At present I am currente calamo and 
currente jalana ! The country appears to be very 
thickly populated, the markets that we passed being 
crowded with women buying and selling ; in some cases 
1 should say there were over 2,000 present in one 
market. It is a quaint sight to see them riding along 
sitting astride their ponies, with a "big pannier hung 
on either side. 'I'o show how these Javanese drivers 
rattle their ponies down hill, I give the followirrg : 
From Prorotrg to I’l igin took us three hours. The 
return journey was dorre irr one hoirr arrd twenty 
minutes ! The steep portiorr of the ascent was dorre 
in orre hour and tliree quarters, with much whip- 
thong and bad language. The same orr our return 
was done smiling irr twenty-three minutes. Before I 
forget it the etiqrrette of calling in Soerabaja seems 
curious. The correct hour is from 7 to 8 p.m. and 
you have to give rrotice if you intend to visit tor fear of 
finding the ladies irr sarorrg arrd kabaya. Tliislast was 
told me in a wirisper, so please print accordingly. 
The coffee in Bast Java is wonderful. As in other 
countries, there are failures ; but the sircoesses are 
marvellous beyond description. All the coffee is gioicn 
under dadap shade ; and, where the soil has any incli- 
nation to stiffness, it is corrstantly worked up with 
changkol. The young coffee is very forward ; but 
perhaps figures of actual results will be more interest- 
ing than tbe most glowing dessriptiorrs of appearance. 
One estate that I went over gives the following re- 
turns : — Total area 450 bouws. Age of coffee 12 years 
old to 2% years old. All expenses, including the cost of 
the young coffee not yet in bearing, are paid : and tbe 
coffee has further given a clear profit of two hundred 
and fifty thousand rupees over and above the capital 
invested. Ye gods and little fishes ! Let us pray that 
the Malay Peninsula may erupt heavily. The old 
saying is “ It’s money that makes the mare to go.” I 
am sure that it’s volcanic action that makes the coffee 
to grow. I am more or less sensitive about being 
called an Ananias ; so I give the following figure taken 
from a Dutch Directory. The results are extraordinary, 
but I simply tell the tale as it W'as told to me. The ap- 
pended table will, I am sure, be of interest to many a 
planter : — 
TABLE OF RESULTS FROM SEVEN COFFEE ESTATES IN 
EAST JAVA. 
Crop in Piknls. 
Eleva- ■ 
L states. 
tion. 
Bouws. 
1884. 
1885. 
1886. 
Limburg 
ft. 
1,200 
COO 
1,705 
500 
2,041 
Ayer Dingin 
, .9,500 
503 
3,200 
3,300 
5,210 
Pangadjaram 
, 2,500 
462 
2,160 
2,230 
4, SCO 
Minjin . . 
3,000 
500 
1,600 
3,108 
4,150 
Monorarie 
3,500 
660 
3,900 
4,300 
1..500 
Parang Nongko. . 
800 
316 
. , 
3,800 
6,000 
Eati Manis 
2,000 
050 
6,000 
3,3.50 
6,000 
[Oct. I, 1897. 
Limburg 
1887. 
5,312 
Crop in Pikuls. 
A 
1888. 1889. 
6,! 60 5,700 
1690. 
1.200 
Ayer Dingin 
3,913 
4,657 
8,145 
3,671 
Pangadjaram 
1,964 
7.970 
5.550 
3,000 
Minjin .. 
1.656 
5,620 
532 
3,531 
Monorarie 
3,600 
2.431 
2,200 
1,000 
Karang Elongko.. 
2.400 
5,000 
4,000 
2,000 
Kati Manis 
1,600 
8,000 
3,100 
530 
Let any practical planter workout these figures, and 
he will find a very healthy average at the end of them. 
The estimate for Limburg this year is 11,000 piculs; 
and there i.s every reason 10 expect that it will be re- 
alised. I have seen no poor soil. All is very rich, 
and of volcanic tormatiou. The strongest complaint, 
that I heard was that there was too much ash in it. 
Considering that the analysis of the coffee beau shows 
over .30 per cent of potash, ash must be indeed abun- 
dant to be a sense of complaint ! The hospitality of 
East Java is unbounded. 
The Java system of cultivation is thus: they work 
the soil, not the Imsh. But little is done to the bushes 
after topping, except taking off the suckers: but the 
soil is kept constantly worked up and open. Very little 
manuring is done : in fact one planter said to me : ” If 
my coffee needed manure I should abandon it at once.” 
I went over one estate that had just given ten piculs 
per bouw. The coffee looked well and in good heart, 
and able to be the same next year Baweau is 
in regular communication with Java, and is only 8 or 
10 hours’ steam from Soerabaya. The climate of the 
hills is delightful : cool and braoiug : and I think that, 
if Singaporeans realised that such a delightful little 
sauatarium as Priuiu could be reached at such a cheap 
cost, more would avail themselves of it. 1 also heard 
much of a sauatarium at Tosari, 0,000 ft. elevation, 
but had no time to sample it myself. The country 
swarms with game. A few days ago a planter shot 
three tigers three nights running You can scarcely 
go a hundred yards without finding pigtrack ; and there 
is other game in abundance. Let no aspiring 
young planter wishing to better himself, or out of a 
berth, sav to himself, “ Here is a paradise for a coffee 
planter, I will go and try fora billet.” Unless a man 
knows the Dutch language and customs, and at least 
one dialect of Javanese, he will have to begin at the 
foot of the ladder on a salary of something like sixty 
rupees a mouth. Preference is also given to a man who 
has lived for a time either in Holland itself, or in 
Netherlands Indies. The etiquette in Dutch official- 
dom is somewhat complex : and a planter is frequently 
brought into contact with the officials, both in\egard 
to his land and other taxes, his labour, and in many 
cases his water-supply. The- e dealings require much 
tact and “ a deal o’ salutiu.” — Singapore Pree Press. 
^ 
OOTAOAMUND BOTANIC GARDENS 
AND PARK : ECONOMIC PRODUCTS. 
A.s regards the Report itself, there is not much 
of local interest unless it he the ligiires sliowing 
how low is the rainfall of Ootacamuml— Me aver- 
age of Iff inches being exactly half that of Nuwara 
Eiiya : — 
The average annual rainfall of Ootacamund is 47 
inches. The rainfall for the year was 76-07 iuches, or 
26T5 inches more than was registered during 1894-95 
and 29-07 inches more than the average. The heavi- 
est rainfall was in June when 2fi-91 inches of rain 
fell on 24 days. The monsoon burst with unusual 
violence, but did no material damage beyond blowing 
down a large unsightly old tree of Cupressus macro- 
carpa Hart, and blowing a few branches off trees 
geaerally throughout the gardens. The fact that 
lit la damage was done is chiefly due to the sheltered 
positioQ the gardens occupy in the Ootacamund valley. 
Of a few notes 011 Plants of Economic Interest, 
we quote the following : — 
Ipecacuanha [Oephcelis Ipecacuanha, Bich). — Very 
little interest seems to be taken in the cultivation of 
this plant, the powdeied anuulatcd roots of wliich 
form the Ipecacuanha of commerce. 
