206 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
careful farming, Sumatra still labours under the dis¬ 
advantages of non-development, and a very large portion 
of her exports are forest products. The rice—although 
in certain districts almost as carefully cultivated as in 
Java—is for the most part grown by the ladang , or dry 
system, instead of by the carefully terraced and irrigated 
sawahs , or wet-field culture, which is the rule in the sister 
island. The same may be said of the less important 
food stuffs, though the Menangkabo valleys form a marked 
exception, and show most careful farming. Almost all 
the fruits, cereals, and farinaceous roots belonging to Java 
and Malacca are found in the island, and some other 
commodities, such as benzoin, are only obtained here 
and in Borneo. The vast extent of lowland in the 
eastern part of the island, together with the large delta 
islands lying off the mouths of the rivers in this part, 
produce sago in great abundance. But the product for 
which Sumatra is chiefly renowned is black pepper. For 
nearly two centuries the Dutch endeavoured to retain the 
monopoly of its culture, and the efforts of the British in 
Benkulen were directed to the same end. The western 
portion of the island was the chief seat of the trade, and 
this part was, and is still, known to mariners as the 
“ Pepper Coast.” The spice at the present time is 
most grown at the north and at the south extremities 
of the island—in the Ache and Lampong districts— 
and in a good year the export reaches the amount 
of nearly 18,000 tons, which is said to be two-thirds of 
the world’s consumption. About eight years are needed 
for a pepper garden to reach maturity, but once in full 
bearing, the annual yield in value of each shrub should be 
about 10s. The only other products of great importance 
are coffee and tobacco. The returns have of late decreased 
considerably, but a few years since coffee was exported to 
