Feb. I, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
from what I have seen and from what I have 
heard from old plaiiters is that one cause for 
the decadence of coffee liere is that the plant 
was forced and grown under unnatural condi. 
tions — that under those same conditions the tree 
in the magnificent volcanic and humus soil of 
Java would have a chance of a longer life and 
a chance, with proper remedies, of recovering 
itself. From what I have seen the soil here is 
not altogether what coflee loves, but as I have 
said I speak with some reserve. When I say 
that coffee has been forced here I mean that it 
has been grown without shade. In Java we 
grow the coffee entirely under shade. In the 
second place until 1 came here I never under- 
stood the meaning of what Ceylon men said 
when they talked of pruning and handling coffee. 
That to me is another means of forcing the tree 
and thereby taking as much as possible out 
of it ; and while it gave good crops as long as 
it lasted that rendered the tree less able to 
withstand any outside attacks. Our 
METHOD OF CUETIVATION IN JAVA 
IS to have no topping at all on high elevations, 
while on lower elevation^ we top from 5 (o 6 
feet leaving a flat surface on the upper portion 
of the tree, and we do not go in for such an 
unnatural process as pruning and handling. That 
is in contrast with what I have seen in Uya 
where they top the tree at abour feet and 
leave the head of it exposed to the full force 
of the sun and the air. Another thing I notice 
is that the coffee, or what remains of the coffee, 
is growing in some places on slopes amongst boul- 
ders and stones. Uva planters seem to fancy that 
the worst spots for growing coffee are in 
the shelteied places at the foot of slopes. 
In Java such steep slopes abounding in boulders 
and stones woottld be looked upon as implant- 
able, and some of our best coffee in Java is 
grown in the very spots at the foot of slopes, 
which Ceylon planters, as far as I am able to 
judge, seetn to condemn. 
THE SOIL. 
Then in Java, the soil especially where tve are, 
is composed, for the most pait, of deep vege- 
table humus mixed with volcanic ash. Going 
through the jungle, otie is able in most places, 
to put a common walking-stick up to the head 
into the ground without resistance. Whereas 
it seems to me in Ceylon a good deal of the 
fertility of tea is owing to the climate ; we in 
Java, in addition to our having a good cli- 
mate, have an advantage in the superiority of 
our soil. 
AVIIAT COFFEE CAN DO IN JAVA. 
I will give you an instance of what coffee 
can do in Java. The Pioneer Company — that 
is the GlenNevis Company— started by Ceylon 
people was first cleared or planted in 1892-93, 
and the last clearing was completed in 1894-95. 
At the end of 1897 over a cleared area of about 615 
acres under coffee there was produeed a crop of the 
gross value of £22,000 sterling. Theamountyielded 
to the end of 1897 from the first year’s clearing 
(1892-93) showed the equivalent of production of 
15 cwt, of coffee per acre. At the end of the 
third year the land produced on the first year’s 
clearing 5 cwt. an acre ; at the end of the 
fourth year 7i cwt. an acre ; and at the end 
of the fifth year (1897) it produced the equiva- 
lent of 15 cwt. an acre. The proprietors are so 
•well pleased with the results that they are putting 
all the profits into further clearing, the estate 
liaving a large jungle reserve. As regards 
S4S 
THE RAINFALL 
it is very well distributed, not one month being 
without a certain proportion of rain. The 
heaviest rain-fall is from October to March in- 
clusive, and the average annual rainfall is from 
85 to 87 inches. As regards 
THE TEMPERATURE 
the observations taken at six o’clock in the 
morning, mid-day, and 8 p.m., in the verandah 
of the Superintendent’s bungalow showed a range 
at 6 a.m., of not lower than 67 and not higher 
than 72 Fah : at mid-day not lower than 75 and 
not higher than 84; and at 8 p.m., not lower 
than 72 and not higher than 78. 
CONCESSIONS BY GOVERNMENT 
are not granted to the outside publics but only to 
Dutch subjects and foreign subjects resident in 
Netherlands India. The lands, acquired by the 
Ceylon planters were therefore obtained through 
myself as aresident, having had 23 years’ experience 
of Java. The conditions upon which the Govern- 
ment give the land are very fair, but they are 
very slow in making grants. They alienate no 
land. The land is given out by the Government 
on a 75 years’ lease and if nothing is said 
to the contrary at the end of the lease it 
is renewable, so that it is practically ownership 
that one receives. The Dutch law allows the 
mortgage of these lands in the same way as 
freehold property, subject of course to the con- 
ditions of the concession. No tax of any kind 
is payable until the end of the fifth year, when 
an amount is levied, which varies, but which 
may be put doivn at a maximum of one Java 
guilder (equal to Is 8d) per bouw, which is equal to 
If acres. No obligation is imposed as to bring- 
ing the land under cultivation. In British Colonies 
you are obliged in most eases to undertake to 
bring so much under cultivation, with n a certain 
time, but in Java there is no such stipulation. 
As regards other taxes there is no tax levied, 
until the estate comes into profitable bearing, 
when the usual income tax is levied which is 
somewhere about 2 per cent. The Government 
reserve to themselves all rights to minerals on 
the lands and also the rights to open roads and 
water-courses, subject to compensation being paid 
to the concessionaires. They will not permit 
the manufacture on the land of salt, which 
is a Government monopoly, or the cultivation 
of the poppy for opiuin which is also a 
Government monopoly. 
REPORT BY A CEYLON MAN. 
A well-known Ceylon man, who is also inter- 
ested in coffee in the Straits, — I refer to Mr. 
Donald Mackay — was down in Java and .after 
seeing the lands reported most favourably on 
them. With regard to Glen Nevis ho said that 
the soil, situation, and giow th of the clearings 
were so far, beyond that of any plantations 
he had seen in many of the countries with 
which he was acquainted and the reality was 
better by far than the descriptions of his 
t eylon triends had led him to expect. The 
sheltered situation, encircled on all sides 
by mountain ranges, the uniform richness and- 
depth of the dark volcanic soil, and the luxurious 
growth of trees from two-and-a-half to four-and- 
a-half years old could hardly l>e excelled, if it 
could be equalled, by Arabian coflee in any part 
of the world. The Liberian coffee trees liad' made 
fine progress. As regarded the cacao trees he 
was inclined to think from their appearance, 
that they might do better next year G898) than 
progress bad led planters hitherto to expect. So far 
