Government Coffee Plantations in Java
(Copyright, 1901, by Frank O. CarpcnUr.)
SAMAKANQ, Java, Sept. 11. (Special
Correspondence of Tho lice.)
From the coffee Island of Java I
wrlto these coffeo notes for tho
greatest coffee lovers on earth.
Tho Irish are famous us whisky
drlnkcrc, tho English as tea drinkers, tho
Germans ns beer drinkers, tho French as
wlno drinkers, but tho Yankees lead the
world ns coffeo drinkers. Wo consume al
most half of all tho coffeo grown upon
earth. Wo annually uso about 800,000,000
pounds, or on tho avcrngo moro than ten
pounds n year for every man, woman and
child amongst us. Our coffeo bill In 1900
was moro than $.rj2,000,000 and within ten
yearn wo havo spent as much as 87G,000,
000 for coffee alone. We tako tho best ot
tho Java coffeo. Tho exporters hero toll
mo that tho cream of the product ot this
island and Sumatra goes to tho United
States and that tho most of it Is at such
high prices that It sells only to the rich.
Wo tnko tho bulk of tho coffeo of Drazll
and of recent years nro buying much from
Central America. Our consumption Is on
tho Increase nnd there Is no doubt but wo
shall bo spending from t'0,000,000 to $100,
000,000 annually for coffee during the rest
of our natural llfo.
Coffee In Our Colonic.
Tho matter Is being studied by tho Agri
cultural department In Washington and
within tho next fow years experimental
coffeo plantations will bo established In
tho Hawaiian Islands, In I'orto Illco, Sa
tnrn, nnd tho Philippines. At present tho
only coffco-produclng country wo havo is
I'orto Tllco. It grows somo of tho best
coffeo of tho world coffeo which Is bolter
than tho avorago product of Java, but
which, owing to tho lack ot knowledge as
to Its oxcellency, Is sold chiefly In France
and Spain. Porto IMco produces 84,000,000
pounds of coffeo a year and Its product
might bo mado ten times as groat as It Is
now.
Tho Hawaiian Islands are Just beginning
to rnlso coffeo. Thoro are about 300,000
acres thcro which aro now being developed
and tho plantations aro paying enormously.
During my stay In Honolulu I was told
that coffeo raising netted 40 per cent on
tho Investment and that the Island ot
Hawaii had already oxtcnslvo estates and
that more wero being laid out.
In tho southern part of tho Philippines,
on tho Island of Jnlo, I found a dorman
named Shuck who had a plantation of 3fi,
000 trees. I wont over tho proporty with
him and found every treo loaded. Tho trees
aro only thrco years old, but they wero
brcnklng down with fruit, and Mr. Shuck
told mo that he had already been offerod
14 cents a pound for his crop. I havo
traveled through tho biggest coffee dis
tricts of Brazil, Mexico nnd Porto Rico,
but I havo novor socn such luxuriant trees
ns thoso on tho Island of Jolo. The planta
tion was cut out of tho forest and its pro
prietor told mo that It was raised with but
llttlo cultivation. Most of tho Sulu archi
pelago is adapted to coffeo raising. I saw
SCENE ON A
luxuriant troes at Zamboanga, on Min
danao, and I doubt not coffeo plantations
would bo auccesstul throughout that Island
uh well as on tho Islands farther north.
Luzon was at one time noted as a coffee
producer, but tho trees were destroyed by
tho blight. Ot recent years the scientists
havo buou experimenting to counteract this
Ulseaso, and tho probability Is that tho
Philippine- islands will somo day produco a
large part ot tho 800,000,000 pounds used
by our people.
Old (luvernuitttit Java.
You may remember that ono ot tho bost
brands ot tho coffee of the past was "old
government Java." This came from tho
coffee plantations owned by Holland on
this Island. For many years the govern
ment was tho chief coffeo grower horo. It
had thousands of acres of coffeo estates
which It managed by forcing tho natlveit
to work upon thorn in lieu ot taxes. These
estates yielded a vbbI rovenuo. From 1831
to 1S75 Java turned Into tho Dutch treasury
about $280,000,000, and tho most of this
rnme from coffeo.
Tint government Is raising a good deal
of coffee today, but the business Is grad
ually going Into the bands of prlvato par-
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tics. During my stay In Java I havo visited
a number of tho government plantations
nnd havo also gono over somo ot tho prlvnto
estates. Tho government lands are worked
on shares with tho natives, tho'Dutch get
ting tho lion's shore. When Marshal Dacn
dolls took charge of the government many
ot tho native princes nnd coffeo estates
which thoy ran with forced labor. Tho
Dutch East India company took Its trlbuto
In coffeo from them and arranged with them
to buy tho balanco of their crop at just
about 1 cent a pound. Dncndells urged tho
people ot tho highlands all over tho Island
to plant coffeo, and ho remitted taxes on
this account.
This policy was continued later on, and
shortly after tho English loft Java overy
family ot certain districts was required to
keep 1,000 coffeo trees In bearing on certain
ot tho village lands and to give or soli two
fifths of tho crop to tho government. Thoy
had to clean and sort tho coffeo and to de
liver It to tho public warehouses. Hero
they wero paid about 3 or 4 cents pound
for It, and this, notwithstanding tho samo
coffeo was selling for as much ns from 1G
to 20 cents a pound at tho soaportn nearby.
At the samo time tho government gave per
centages to tho chiefs ot tho various vll-
COFFEE PLANTATION.
lagos according to tho quality of the coffeo
produced in their rospoctlvo districts. Thoy
established rules ot culture, organized nur
series to provide tho best of plants tor the
natives, and In this way Improved tho Java
coffeo plant until it was one ot the best cf
tho world. The coffee used at that tlma
came from plunts Imported from Arabia.
Then a blight came which destroyed almost
all tho plantations ot that variety anil under
which tho coffeo Industry of Jnva was about
ruined. Just bctoro tho blight Javu shipped
300,000,000 pounds of Java coffee to Europo.
Today her exports) nro somothlng llko 60,
000,000 pounds. Sho Is raising more of tho
Llberlan coffee, of which I shall wrlto later.
On (he Government l'lantatlons.
Some of the best coffee estatea I havo
soon ore on tho slopes of the Tengor moun
tains, in northeastern Java. I rcachod
them by taking train at Soerbaya and then
going on ponies about a day's ride through
tho hills. I rode tor miles along tho sides
ot the mountains through coffeo planta
tions. Thoro woro millions of trees, tho
most of them not much bigger around than
fishing poles, covered with varnlshod green
leaves. In some places the plantations
DltYINQ COFFEE ON A JAVA PLANTATION.
woro young, tho bushes being shaded with
banana plants and with trees. In others
they wero loaded with berries, which men,
women and children were picking In baskets
and carrying homo.
Thoro wero villages scattered burn and
thoro through tho coffeo districts, collec
tions of llttlo houses ot woven bamboo
basket work, which looked moro llko play
houses than anything else. Each village
had a gato leading Into It. Tlio houses
wero fenced with bamboo poles, set cross
wise. Thoro was coffeo drying In tho sun
In front of somo of tho houses and bctoro
others 1 saw girls pounding tho hulls off
tho dried beans.
I asked as to how tho government man
nged Its estates and was told that tho vil
lages were required to plant tho coffeo un
der government supervision. Tho ofllclals
sco that tho land Is properly cleared, tho
plants sot out and tho tries cultivated
until thoy conic Into bearing. The people
aro paid for this work. After this tho
trees aro divided up among tho families of
tho village, each having us much as It
can attend to. Each family Is rcsponslbto
for its own troes and their product. Tho
different members of tho family gather tho
berries, carry them homo and dry them In
tho sun. When thoroughly dried thoy are
put Into wooden mortars and the hulls
pounded off. Tho chaff ot skins and bulls
Is then winnowed and the beans are car
ried to tho warehouses and sold to the
government at 16 florins a plcul, or at S6
for 133 pounds. This Is too cheap
for tho natives to raako any
thing. They aro not Interested in the
business, and thoy will not cultivate tho
plants carefully. I am told If the price was
doubled thero would bo a great deal moro
old government Java, and that of a better
quality. At present tho best Java coffeo Is
raised on prlvato estates.
The Coffee Warehouses.
The government coffeo warehouses aro
scattered throughout tho coffee districts,
and they aro also to bo found In the larger
cities. I visited one In tho town of Pocspo,
whore I stopped on my way to the Dromo
volcano. It was a building of woven bam
boo walls and a roof ot red tiles, with n
cement floor. On the wldo porch In front of
It woro Bcnles tor weighing tho coffeo, nnd
within, piled up like so much oats on tho
floor, was a little mountain of green coffee
beans. In the pile wero two wooden scoop
shovels for bagging tho coffee, and two
balf-naked men wero at work preparing It
for shipment to market. Near tho door,
sitting cross-legged upon tho floor before a
table about a foot high, was a turbaned
Javanese in spectacles. Ho was the native
government official who bought the coffee
and cent it to tho soacoast. He told mo that
tho government Is now paying less than S
conts a pound for Its coffee, tho same that
we pay our retailers 40 cents In the United
States; so you sco tho Dutch nro not doing
a losing business with tho natives.
I was much interested In tho coffeo nur
series. These are ot great extent. In
places they cover the sides ot tho hills,
great sheds roofed with bamboo filled with
thousands of bamboo pots, each containing
a coffee seed or plant. Somo ot tho plants
were Just bursting forth from tho ground;
othors wero a few Inches high, and somo a
foot high. The plants are set out In tho
same earth In which they grow In tho nur
sery. Thoy aro put only a few feet apart
and are shaded when young. At first thoy
aro kept free from weeds, but when the
trees grow tho Bhado from tho coffeo keeps
down tho weeds.
I wish I could take a pony-back rids with
you up through theso coffee estates. Thoy
are Interspersed with forests, and there
aro many monkeys, great long-tailed black
follows, which Jump from branch to branch
and from ono trot to another. You see them
squatting at tho roots of tho branches and
creeping around tho trco trunks grinning
and chattering at you. Now you will sco
ono clinging to a limb 200 feet above the
ground, and now catch sight ot ono Jumping
flftoen feet from ono trco to another.
Luxuriant Veicetntloii.
Tho vcgotatlon is overywhero luxuriant.
Thoro aro palm trees and banana plants.
Thero are all sorts ot winding vines. Tho
very plunts seem to lova ono another, tho
trees twist themselves about their fellows
and grow up together. Even the dead
branches aro covered with green; they aro
clothed with orchids and moss, tho green
end flowers ot tho air forming a winding
sheet over tho dead branches. Thero nro
orchids overywhero, and such orchids!
Hero ono has wound Itself around a branch
like a necklaco; thcro ono squats llko a
monkey at tho root of a limb and further
ovor aro great masses ot green out of
which come blossoms ot many hues.
Tho soli of Java Is exceedingly rich. The
land Is one of volcanoes, but Its volcanoes
tpout forth mud Instead of stones and
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JAVA GIULS
this mud Is ot a chocolate brown, which,
when dry, becomes a One dust many feet
thick. In the coffeo districts It has a red
dish tlngo and Is probably Impregnated
with Iron. The best coffee regions are trom
2,000 to 4,000 feet above the sea and some
ot tho very best aro In the Praenger or
mountainous provinces ot western Java.
Ili'at Java Coffee la from Snmatra.
In conversation with some of the chief
Araortcan coffee exporters at Batavla I
was told that tho vory best Java coffee of
today comes from Sumatra. It Is trom the
district ot Padang and Is ot the Arabian
variety. It brings a higher price In Ba
tavla than the best Java sold In our ordi
nary stores brings at wholesale in Now
York, so that what is sold as pure Java
for from 35 to 40 cents a pound in our
stores is In all probability not Java at all.
Tho best Java and tho Sumatra Java cost
tho wholesalers in New York at least 30
cents a pound. The exporters here tell mo
that more Java coffee Is consumed In the
United States alone than Is raised In all the
Dutch East Indies and this notwithstanding
a great deal of the product goes to Europe.
I was told during my stay in Brazil that
tho most of tho Java coffeo sold In the
United States was really Brazilian coffee
and I da not doubt but that tho statement
was true.
Notwithstanding this, a great diuT ot
puro Java goes to tho United States, but It
brings very high prices and It Is sometimes
used to flavor other coffee. Tho pure artlolo
cannot possibly bo sold cheap, so when you
aro told you aro getting a bargain In puro
Java coffee don't take It.
How Fine Coffee In Handled.
Tho finest Sumatra coffeo comes from tho
descendants of Arabian plants. It Is very
carefully cultivated and after being picked
is 'sorted by hand. In tho warehouses here
I havo seen scores ot Javanese girls squat
ting down with basket trays ot coffeo In
front of them. They handle almost every
grain, putting tho small ones Into ono plneo
nnd thi larger ones Into another, sorting
them as carefully ns though they wero
grains ot gold. As the coffeo comes In It is
of a rich olive green color. It Is left for
somo tlma on tho floor of tho warehouse,
when It turns a light yellow. No coloring
matter whatever Is used, and tho coffee U
shipped ns pure as It Is on a plantation. The
best varieties aro sent to Now York In
sailing vessels which carry nothing else.
Tho coffeo steams and cures during the long
thrco months' voyage, so much Improving
Its flavor that sailing vessels are preferred
to steamers. Coffee, llko wlno, Improves
with age, and up to a certain limit tho
older It Is tho better It Is.
Java's Private Coffee Estates.
Somo of the prlvnto estates ot Javu nro
perhaps more scientifically managed than
any other coffeo lands of the world. At
Slnagar a vast plantation near Dultenzorg
everything connected with the curing of
tho coffeo Is dono by machinery. Tho trees
n rji Mnaf nafnfllllir nnlHvntml n tl A ( n Ifhint.
cst cam taken to nrcduco Una fruit. I saw
thcro one machine which cleans 20,000
pounds of coffeo In n day. It reduces tho
dried pulp to a powder, but does not Injure
the grain. After this the coffeo Is further
cleaned In a simple faniiln:: mill. Ono ot
theso machines costs about 1320 In gold. I
should think they would bo of great value
In Porto Illco.
Tho prlvato estates nro rnthcr Increasing
In number. It used to bo that most ot the
crop enmo from tho government planta
lions, whereas It Is now from th prlvnto
estates.
Llberlan Vermin Arabian Coffee.
Tno nnost or tno Java conec, as we Ktro-v
It, Is frqm plants of Arabian descent. It
woo this variety that was affected by tho
blight. Tho trees are small, slendor and
delicate, coming originally from tho hills
ot Yemen In Arabia from about tho samo
region as the Mocha coffee. In that coun
try tho Mocha coffeo still grows, but there
Is so little ot It that it Is safo to say tint
a grain ot It comes to tho United States.
Tv.'cnty-flvo years ago about ten thousand
tons of Mocha coffee wero exported, but
It Is said that the production is now not
P1CKINQ COFFEE.
half that, and that It Is all consumed in
Mohammedan households. During my stay
In Brazil I saw thousands of bags of coffee
which I was told would bo sold as Moctia
and I visited warehouses where thero were
sorting machines, In which (ho llttlo round
grains were picked out from the rest, to
be put Into bags and sold as Mocha.
The coffeo most raised In Java today Is
tho Llberlan coffee. It Is a coarse, largo
grained variety. Tho benns nro three times
as large as as tho real Mocha and thoy havo
a different flavor. Tho Llberlan trees aro
stronger than any others. They havo lartrsr
leaves and they grow thick and stout.
trees havo been known to yield sixteen
pounds. Thoy will grow at a lower altltudo
and In Liberia aro found wild not far trom
tho seashore. This treo has been taken to
Java because It will withstand tho blight
and other parasites, and also on account
ot Its prolific bearing. Tho plantation on
the Island of Jolo has nothing but Llberlan
trees and I understand that thero aro
large plantations ot similar trees nearby In
Borneo. I doubt whether this coffeo would
Bell well In the United States, although
there Is a good demand tor It In Europe.
FRANK O. CARPENTER.