THE tropical agriculturist, 
[August i, 1891. 
98 
and their musty smell was \vith ua for furlor^sata 
time. At last we reached our destination, and were 
glnd indeetl to get a long drink. 
The coifftO in East Java is wonderfnl. As in other 
countries, there are failarefl: bnt the fiiiccesses are 
marvellous beyond desoriptioQ> All the coff^o is grown 
under dadep shade ; end whero the soil has any 
inclination to stiffueeg, it is conaiautly worked up with 
changkol. Tho young colTeo i# very forward j but 
porhapR figures of actual ri‘snl*fl will bu more interest, 
ing than the mo«t glowing descriptions of nppenrauce. 
Ono estate that I want over gives tbe following re- 
turns: — Total area 460 houwa. Age of cotfee Tiyi ora 
old to years old. AM expensf s, including tho cost 
of the young oolfae not yet in bearing, are paid: and 
the coffee has further given a clear profit of two 
hundred and fifty thousand rupees over and above llio 
oanital inveatod. Ye gods and little fishes ! Eot us 
erupt heavily. 
j mare 
go." 1 am Rure mac us Viicauio acciun that 
makes tho coffee to grow. 
I am more or lefls sensitive about being called an 
Ananias : so I give the following figures taken from a 
Dutch Directory. The results am extraordinary, but 
I simply tell tho tale as it was told to me. The ap- 
pended table will, I am eu e. bo of interest to many 
a planter;— 
pray that the Malay Peninsula TU«*y erupt hoa 
The old spying is, ** It’s money that makes the i 
to go.’* I am Ruro that it's Vvlcanio action 
m 
>■ 
tn 
1/2 
s 
IIS 
SI 
S 2 
2 8 
iiiii 
5 S 
s s 
I S M 3 5 § 
1 1 1 1 i I 
' ef » ^ G?f 
•S 
hfl <1 
’s .2 
1 s g 
i .s § 
h a a 
V, 
M Ui 
Let any practical planter work out these figures, and 
be will find a very lu-althy average at the end of 
them. Tlio efitimato for Limburg this yfar is 11,000 
piouls ; and there is every rtason to expect that it 
will be realised. 
I have flreii no poor «oil. All is very rich, and of 
volcanic formation. The strongest complaint that I 
heard waR that th^re was too much a*h in it. Con- 
sidering that the analysis of tho cuff ;© bean shows 
over 60 per cent, of potash, ash mu.-<t be indeed abundant 
to be a sense of complaint! 
The hospitality of Bust Java is uiiboniided. Harsoa, 
cirriagos— everything in fact is piit at ji ur diKposal; 
and the morost stranger treats his visitors right royally. 
Another man and my«olf went i the niami- 
gor of which was unknown to u-i. Wo introdiicud 
ourselvea and aske 1 to be allowed to aae his colfu.^. 
Uo took * 8 ovrr tha whole himsdf, and then after 
liquoring up aud asking us to slick up a cigar 
seegur obstaken) he in-sinud on lending ns his car- 
riage to go on with, as wo should find it inconveniently 
hot to go on riding. 
The Java system of cultivation is thus : they work 
the 3oil, not the bush. But little is done to the 
bushes after topping, except taking off the suckers 
but tho soil is kept constantly worked up aud open. 
Very Uitlo manuring is done: in fact one planter said 
to me ** If my coffee needed manure I should aban- 
don it at onco.” I went over cno estate that had just 
given 10 piculs per bouw. The coffee looked well and 
in good heart, aiid able to bo the same next year. 
With results sucii as 1 have given it U not surpris- 
iuL" that ihtro should have hem a heavy rush after 
cuffeo lands lately, aud almost all available laud has 
b' en taki 11 up. A friend of mine has just got a con- 
cessiun of 7,600 houws, and this 1 helLve is practically 
tbe last laud to be got in East Java. 1 hear however 
that the Assistant Resident of Bawean is rather Boro 
about tlip rush on Kist Javn, asborting that he baa 
better lauds on hia islu< d, which being thickly popu- 
lated, offers a sum supply of cheap iabniir. Bnwean 
is in regular coinmunicatiou with Java, and is only 
8 or 10 hours’ fiie-m from Soerabaya. 
The climate of the hills is delightful ; cool and 
bracing : nud I think that if Singaporeans realised that 
such a delightful little sanatarium as Prigin could be 
readied at snob u cheap cost, more would avail them- 
selves of it, 
X aho hoard much of a aauatarium at Toeari, 
6,000 ft. elevation, but had no time to sample it 
myself. 
Tbe couulry swarms with game. A few days asfo a 
planter shot three tigers three nightR running. You 
can scarcely go a hundred yards without finding pig- 
track ; and there is other game in abundance. 
Anybody couteroplating tbe trip direct to Soernbaya 
should go by S. S. “llavfean.” She is clean and 
comfortable with g, od food, a first rate Captain, artist, 
musician, raconteur, aud general good fellow. 
1 have omitbr d ooe thing which struck me especially, 
and that w as tho extraordinary rcHdiness of the Java- 
men tu give yon their finures. If you say ♦'By Jove! 
that Kouiids healthy.” The reply is “ Well, here you 
are; \cu can copy the figures if you like” and out 
come tbe books. One mao was bo kind astohsve his 
account , which wore in Dutch, copied out in 
English for me. During roy tiip I came in contact 
with Scotch, English, Dutch and German ; aud upon 
my word ii is haul to say wh b showed the greatest 
kiiidneKS to a stranger in a stia.igo land- 
A young EoglishinHu caught a bna*Goustr'otor a few 
days ago. lie was riut with two oo>'l*eB, when be saw 
th(3 snuko, Mid iiumt-diately rushed and seized it by 
the tail, cnlliug on his coolies to do the same. They 
pluckily did so : but the groat brute dragged them all 
along nflor it. Seeing it was hopeless to capture it 
thus, the master told his men to hang on to tho tail 
while he rau Hwiftly along the body and collared it by 
tbe neck. After a fierce struggle they noosed it and 
cot it home, nud caged it 8‘!cur ly. Boing at the 
bungalow shortly afterwards 1 asked to see the snake. 
Oil certainly ” said my boat ; “ but be will be in the 
water now; howt:v©r, I daresay I can stir him up. 
Tlio bcHBb was 30 feet in length. Tbe same young 
gentleman had nnoxpeotcd visitors some time ago, and 
as ifl nut unusual in the jungle the larder was empty; 
however ho managed to put on tbe table some very good 
st< uk which, after they had enjoyed it thoroughly, ho in- 
furmod them was muijkey-fl«'S‘ . They were horrified and 
dtsgusted ; botvever they called on bim on their return 
j mriuy a few days afterwards, when in a loud voice 
be called out to his boy to “Kill a monkey.” Uis 
guests smole to each other. In due course tifiin arrived. 
First came soup— aud thou the atiak. The gueRtn to 
each other wuuk an evil wink, nt d handed tluir steaks 
to tho dogs. The host meanwhile etc calmly on, being 
much bantvrod bv bis fiiouds about eating that 
‘♦beastly m mkey flesh,” When he had quite finished, 
he lay calmly back in his ebnir and said “Wtrll, do you 
know, I think 1 Lave acuied off you follows aguin: 
the mt at which 1 ate and which yni gave to the dogs 
was good bi'ct-stt ak ; Int tli- soup which you seemed 
«o to C'lj-iy waa monkey-i oup.” 
lieforc I cLso these jottings I must sound a note of 
wavning* Bet uo uspiiiug yoong planter wishing to 
