JAVA 
137 
the existing culture-system, “ which may result in a 
sacrifice of certain interests in order to secure other- 
uncertain advantages/’ The favourable points of the 
case are that during the last two or three years a con¬ 
siderable area has been newly planted on cleared lands 
in eastern Java, and the cultivation of the disease-resisting 
Liberian tree has been largely instituted in the low-lying 
grounds. In spite of the events of recent years, the 
island is only surpassed by Brazil in the value of its 
annual crop. The Pasuruan and Preanger districts to¬ 
gether furnish more than half of the entire quantity 
grown upon the island. 
Sugar, like coffee, was formerly a Government 
monopoly, but is no longer so, and the greater proportion 
of it is grown by large companies. It is the most valu¬ 
able of all the island exports, for Java again holds the 
second place in the production of this article, and only 
yields to Cuba. The growth of sugar is an old industry 
which has much increased of late years, for while at the 
beginning of the present century the annual crop was 
only 6000 tons, that of 1890 amounted to 400,000 tons, 
of which 362,344—valued at over £4,000,000—were 
exported. The production has been very steady since 
1884, and the improved returns of 1890 are ascribed 
to a new system of cultivation. Surabaya is the centre 
of the principal sugar-growing districts. 
Although the three crops above mentioned—rice, 
coffee, and sugar—may be said to be the staples of 
Java, the island yields many other valuable products in 
great abundance. The cinchona bark obtained in 1890 
was not far short of 7 million lbs., and the estimated 
crop for 1891 nearly 8 million, or about four-sevenths 
of the world’s consumption. Of greater value still is the 
tobacco, the worth of the 1890 crop being estimated at 
