JAVA
Java, the seat of the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies, lies in the Indian ocean south of Sumatra and Borneo, between 105 degrees 12 minutes and 114 degrees 35 minutes east longitude, and between 5 degrees 52 minutes and 8 degrees 46 minutes south latitude. It is 622 miles long and 121 miles wide at its greatest breadth, and this narrows to about 55 miles toward the middle of the island. The area of Java proper is 48,504 square miles, Madura comprises 1732 square miles and the smaller islands under Javan jurisdiction cover 1416 square miles.
Of the three general divisions of Java, the east, the middle and the west, each has certain structural features of its own. In west Java the highlands lie to the south and the lowlands to the north. Middle Java takes in the isthmus and part of the wide eastern portion. In the isthmus the mountain barrier on the south is less regular and the northern plains are broken to a certain extent. The eastern division is made up of an intricate confusion of hills and valleys, except on the south coast, where the mountain range forms a continuous barrier. The shore line of the north coast is low everywhere, with morasses, sand dunes and shifting river mouths, but it is of much greater importance than the south coast, which is steep, at intervals rocky and constantly battered by a violent surf.
Java is one of the most distinctly volcanic regions of the world—it has fourteen active volcanoes and one hundred and twenty-five recognized volcanic centers.
Both the north and south coast lines are broken by rivers, the principal ones being on the north. In the dry season theycontain little water, but during the rainy monsoon[84]they frequently become rushing torrents that burst their banks and overflow the surrounding country. Such inundations carry with them a considerable amount of disintegrated volcanic rock, part of which is deposited on the plains and swept seaward. In this manner the alluvial plains near the river courses are formed and the shoals in the harbors and at the river mouths as well.
Java enjoys a comparatively even temperature the year round. Ninety-six degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in Batavia in 1877 and that is the highest mark known. The lowest was 66 degrees Fahrenheit, which was experienced in the same place in the same year. The mean annual temperature is 79 degrees Fahrenheit, and the difference between the warmest and the coldest months is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The year is divided into two seasons by the prevailing winds—the rainy period, that of the wet monsoon, from November to March, and the dry period the remainder of the year, when the dry monsoon blows. There is no long unbroken rainfall and no long spell of drought. The average rainfall is much greater on the south coast than on the north: in Batavia it is 72.28 inches yearly, while Majalenka has an annual fall of 175 inches. Wind-storms are rare and hardly ever cyclonic, but thunderstorms are of frequent occurrence. Under an almost vertical sun, the day is of nearly uniform length throughout the year.
The plains vary in fertility according to their geological formation, but with the exception of the regions abounding in marshes, stretches of disintegrated coral, and lakes, they are tillable and productive.
Sugar cane was brought to Java by the Chinese or Hindus in very remote times. The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien mentions having found sugar there when he visited the island in 424,[85]and as trading was constantly carried on between Arabia, India,China and Java, there is but little doubt that when the secret of boiling the sugar juice to a grain was discovered it became known to all of them at once.
About 1520 the Portuguese established trade relations with the natives and early in the seventeenth century the Dutch influence began to make itself felt. The Dutch East India company built forts and set up trading stations in the coast towns; at first it acquired only small pieces of land in Jakatra (Batavia) and it was some time before its holdings were increased. Finally Jakatra was conquered and the Dutch power in Java firmly established. But little was done at the outset to help the sugar industry, as the policy of the Dutch East India company was to foster trade in the products of the East rather than undertake to raise any of the commodities itself. The sugars that were sent by it to the mother country at the beginning of its operations, therefore, came from China, Formosa, Siam and Bengal, and no Javan sugars reached Holland until after 1637, in which year the company decided to establish sugar mills on its own land near Batavia.
It also parceled out land to Chinese sugar growers and granted them special concessions in consideration of the entire product of the land being sold to the company at an agreed figure. Prices and terms changed from year to year, however, and much confusion and dissatisfaction resulted. War, cane pests, cattle diseases and labor troubles still further complicated the situation. In 1648 the company’s plantations produced 124 tons and in 1652 the outturn was 723 tons. The increase in West Indian production hurt the Javan factories and the war in Bantam in 1660 stopped development. In 1652, twenty mills were running, but in 1660 half of the number had closed. Peace with Bantam was concluded in 1684 and matters then began to improve. By 1710, one hundred and thirty mills were in operation and the industry was extended to Bantam,Cheribon and Japara. The policy of the company, however, was to restrict production so as to keep up prices, and to this end it prohibited the erection of any new mills and limited the output of those that were running to eighteen tons per annum each, thus fixing a maximum total of 2340 tons. This amount was not realized, however, as the number of factories decreased until in 1745 only sixty-five were in operation in the territory near Batavia. The company then decided to raise the number to seventy, and five years later it added ten more. As years went on the number of factories diminished, but their capacity increased, and in 1779 fifty-five mills furnished 6176 tons of sugar to the company.
The Dutch East India company was dissolved in 1795 and the Dutch interests in Java passed under the control of the Batavian republic,[86]afterward the kingdom of Holland, which was brought under French rule when Holland fell into the hands of Napoleon. In 1811 it was seized by England and was finally restored to Holland in 1816.
All this time the regulations governing the sugar industry were being constantly changed. The producers had always been at loggerheads with the company, for while they were bound to deliver their entire output to the company, it did not consider itself obligated to take delivery of any definite amount. This left the planters in a very unsatisfactory position, as they could never look ahead with any degree of certainty. At length a law was passed in 1797 calling upon the factories near Batavia to produce 2810 short tons yearly for the government, with the privilege to them to dispose of any sugars made in excess of this amount for their own account. A similar law affecting the factories on the north and east coasts was proposed. In this territory there were thirty-one factories in 1794 with a capacity of 1000 tons, which quantity it was proposed to increase to 2000tons for delivery to the government and 500 tons for sales for account of the producers. In furtherance of this plan, the mill owners were to be granted tracts of new cane land and the government was to make cash advances up to 50 per cent of the estimated value of the growing crop. These propositions were never carried into effect, and a production of 1000 tons per annum remained the maximum for that section of the country.
In the vicinity of Batavia, however, the measure was a success, especially as the government encouraged the manufacturers by increased advances and by supporting prices. The result was that during the early years of the nineteenth century the production grew, but a sharp decline came in 1811-13, and in the latter year the total production of Java fell to about 600 tons.
The causes were not hard to find. Holland was dominated by France and sea traffic was blocked by the British, so that Java had to keep her sugar in storage at home. Nevertheless, the government continued to encourage the production in the hope of an early peace and so that the industry might not die out. Each year, therefore, added to the government’s stocks of sugar until the amount became burdensome for financial reasons, and the traditional policy of the government was abandoned. Manufacturers were allowed to dispose of their sugars freely and without restriction, but unfortunately the privilege was granted at a time when it was impossible to sell and the British occupation of Java did not mend matters.
When Java was restored to Holland in 1816, the new government continued the freedom of the industry, but it had received so severe a check that to revive it was a difficult matter. In 1826 the output was 1220 tons, and in this year the authorities renewed the system of making advances and stimulated growth and manufacture, so that in 1830 the production had increased to 6700 tons.
That same year a new governor-general, van den Bosch, was appointed. He was entrusted with the task of making the island a producer of the commodities required by the mother country and was given a free hand as to the means to be employed in accomplishing his purpose. The plan he put into effect was known as the “Cultural System” and its principal features were as follows:
In the districts adapted to sugar cultivation, the natives were to contribute one-third of their arable land to be planted in cane as required. The natives were to till the fields, supply fuel and cattle for ploughing and transportation, and in consideration of this they were exempted from the free service due from them by law to the state. Payment for labor was to be made out of the proceeds of the crops after deducting the land tax.
The crushing of the cane and its manufacture into sugar was done under contract by private individuals who were assisted by government money in the building of factories. The contractors turned over the sugar to the government at a fixed rate, at the same time repaying the money advanced to them.
At the outset there was next to no profit for either the government or the producers, in fact the first few years showed an actual loss, so that it became a hard matter to induce anyone to undertake the manufacture of sugar on a contract basis. This led to a modification of the regulations and the manufacturers were permitted to sell a part of their output on their own account. In this way their interest was stimulated and there was a change for the better, attended by a profit both for the producer and the state. By 1870 the government, recognizing that the sugar industry was established on a sound footing, decided to withdraw from any participation in the manufacture and a new set of rules was formulated, under which the government’s direct connection with the industry was confined to the growing of the cane. The government then had to dispose of a portionof the land and the native labor at a just figure, and when once the cane crop was turned over to the contractor he had to take care of any further field work, together with the harvesting and transportation of the cane, out of his own funds without government help. Commencing with the year 1879, the government was to reduce its interest in the original contract plantations one-thirteenth annually, so that government participation in both cultivation and manufacture of sugar should terminate by 1891. It was stipulated that the manufacturers could make whatever disposition of their output they wished, and in lieu of rent for the land they planted to cane, they were to pay a fixed price for the cane, and in addition a premium based on the yield of the years 1864-69. On privately owned plantations the government exacted a tax of $10.00 for every 1.74 acres. This tax on privately grown cane was abolished in 1886 in order to stimulate the then languishing industry, and the premium on state plantations was cut down one-half between 1887 and 1891, with the proviso that the payment of the other half should be deferred until 1892-96.
Unfortunately for the producers in Java, there was a disastrous slump in sugar prices just about the time these new measures were formulated. The tremendous output of beet sugar sent the price below cost in 1882-84, and besides this a strange disease, calledsereh, worked havoc with the cane in the fields and caused serious loss. This disease made its appearance in western Java in 1884 and spread rapidly, affecting the production everywhere. After carrying on a hard but losing fight for some years, the sugar men summoned science to their aid in this difficulty. H. C. Prinsen Geerligs was called to Java in 1891 and three experimental stations were established to fight the sereh. Through the efforts of the officials in charge of the experiment stations, specimens of cane were brought from all parts of the cane-producing world, the object being to find acane that would be as rich in sugar as the Black Cheribon (the most popular variety then grown in Java) and yet able to withstand the sereh. Fresh healthy cane was planted for seed purposes in the mountains, far from the disease-infected region, and much care was taken in the way of disinfection and quarantine precaution to prevent the sereh from spreading into the sections that were free from it. These measures were accompanied by exhaustive scientific experiment work to find out the cause and the nature of the disease and how it could be overcome.
These stations not only accomplished the purpose for which they were built, but they were of great benefit to the industry in all of its branches. As a result, planting, growing and manufacturing methods have been vastly improved, chemical control of factories has been introduced and economic scientific methods govern every department of the work. By these means, supported by the addition of fresh capital, the sugar industry of Java was not only saved from extinction, but was lifted into a very prominent world’s place, and for years past Java has furnished an example of remarkable efficiency and low cost of production.
Java’s sugar plantations are situated in the eastern and central part of the island. The surface of much of the western end is broken and mountainous, lacking uninterrupted stretches of level land suitable for agriculture, and presenting obstacles to transportation. The great drawback, however, even in the vast plain of Krawang, is climatic. As has been said, the ideal climate for sugar cane is one that combines abundant rain during the period of growth with an uninterrupted dry season to ripen the cane and admit of its being readily harvested and transported to the mill. In west Java these conditions do not obtain, as the wet and dry seasons are not sharply defined.
The plains along the north central coast, east of the riverTjimanoek, between the sea and the foothills are, with the exception of a few open stretches, devoted to cane growing. There is also a considerable area in cane south of the central chain of mountains.
In east Java the sugar estates are found in the wide valley of the river Brantas, on the plateaus of the provinces of Madioen and Kediri, in the fertile plains along the north coast and in the lowlands bordering upon the Bali strait.
In 1912 Java had 184 sugar factories in operation, divided among the various residencies as follows:
While these figures show the acreage actually under cane, the total amount of land used in the production of the crop is much greater. It takes over twelve months for the cane to mature, and as some fields are being cut others are being planted. The ground required for factory buildings, dwellings, roads and other purposes connected with the industry must also be taken into account, and it has been estimated that altogether1,200,000 acres are tributary to cane culture. The annual plantings cover about 350,000 acres and the portion of the remainder that is not devoted to roads, buildings and so forth is sown with other crops or allowed to lie fallow for a time.
The general plan of crop rotation on an average is:
Sometimes tapioca is planted instead of rice immediately after the cane crop is harvested, but cane invariably follows a rice crop. The European planter confines his operations to sugar cane, and the other products are raised by the native farmer exclusively by his own efforts and on his own account.
The terms under which plantation land is held in Java differ widely from those that govern in other cane-growing countries. Between 1830 and 1879, when the compulsory cultural plan was in effect, the government determined what lands were to be planted in cane. It compelled the natives to cultivate and harvest the crop, but allowed them compensation for their labor and the use of their fields. The wages thus paid were ultimately accounted for when the sugar was sold by the government. Each district, or group of districts, delivered the cane product to the mill agreed upon and the grinding was done under a contract with the government.
When, at a later period, the sugar estates had to produce their own cane, they gradually took over the land on a rental basis and grew cane upon it by paid native labor. In 1879, when cultivation was free, the government factories had 7531 acresleased from the natives, in addition to 64,470 acres of cane that they ground under contract with the government. At this time the independent factories had 16,824 acres rented and were growing cane upon it under their own management and for their own account.
During the gradual abolition of the cultural system, the fields first given up by the government were those situated at a considerable distance from the factories and those to which it was difficult to bring water for irrigation. It came about naturally that when the factories had the selecting of the lands they were to rent, they picked out the best in their neighborhood for their purposes. In this way an exchange of the tilled fields was effected. Subsequently, estates were extended and new tracts of land occupied, but in increasing the acreage, each factory was careful to confine its operations to its own district and thus avoid competing with other factories in renting new ground. The old-established factories already had their acreage, and when the compulsory cultivation plan was abandoned, they mutually agreed upon the territory in which each factory should rent land without interference on the part of any of the others. Whenever a new plantation was established, its district was clearly defined, so it will be seen that under this plan there could be no competitive bidding on land rents. There have been instances of newcomers having disregarded this convention, but in every case they have sooner or later acknowledged their error, and today there is perfect harmony among the factors as to the territory in which each interest rents its land.
In Java, cane is almost always grown on lands irrigated by the same means that are employed in irrigating rice, the privilege of using these works being included in the rent of the land. Under the compulsory régime it was the rule that in the dry season irrigation water should be utilized for the cane fields during the day and for native agriculture during the night, andthis regulation remained effective after the withdrawal of the government from the industry.
As the water supply was controlled by private enterprises, it frequently happened that in a time of scarcity it was not impartially distributed. After 1890, when the acreage of the cane plantations was being constantly extended, the authorities found themselves obliged to prevent encroachment by the cane growers on the land required to produce the necessities of life for the natives, and also to see to it that the new extensions of cane land should not be allowed to appropriate an undue proportion of the available water to the detriment of both the established plantations and the native agriculture. Accordingly, in 1894, legislation touching the renting of land and the use of water was begun, the principal features being as follows:
All new sugar enterprises, or any addition to an existing enterprise, to apply to the director of the civil service for his sanction of the undertaking, and the applicant to declare the maximum area of land to be planted with cane each year, as well as the names of the districts in which it is desired to rent cane lands.
The authorities investigate conditions in order to determine whether or not the proposed increase will conform to the rules governing the “Lease under contract with the native population.” They are also careful to satisfy themselves that the granting of the request will not produce unfair disparity between the amount of land and water used for cane cultivation and that devoted to the raising of foods for the natives.
The permit to rent the necessary amount of ground provides that, while the length of the lease may vary according to conditions, the land cannot be held by the sugar factory any longer than is necessary to grow and harvest one crop of cane. This takes between fifteen and seventeen months, and the land must be in the hands of the native farmer directly before and afterthat period. Leases to be valid must be drawn up before a civil-service official and have his approval.
No permits for the establishment of new factories or the extension of existing enterprises will be issued for the time being in districts where important changes in the irrigating system, either new construction or additions, are contemplated. As a rule, the period during which the natives are prohibited from renting lands that have been opened up to irrigation for the first time is fixed at five years. This is done in order to afford the natives an opportunity to realize what the land is worth before leasing it. The amount of water to be used in the growing of rice and other crops as well as cane has also been clearly agreed upon and great care is taken to see that full justice is done to all concerned.
As the water brought by canal is not sufficient to irrigate the entire cane acreage, the government has allowed the factories to install a number of large pumping plants by which water is raised from rivers. In such cases, whenever the factories have pumped water enough for their own requirements, they are generally willing to operate the pump free of cost to supply water to the native farmer.
In the principalities or semi-independent states of Java, where the native princes have made grants of land to their nobles as appanage, another rental system prevails. Both princes and nobles lease large tracts of land for long periods to European agriculturists, and such leases include not only the fertile portion with the irrigation facilities and the water, but the rocky, barren spaces as well. Here the tenant has to make the most of the possibilities of the property and determine what part of it is best suited for cane culture and what part for other purposes.
Besides the two plans of tenure just described, certain lands are held under absolute title or perpetual lease. Over a hundredyears ago large tracts were sold outright at times, the title carrying all the seignioral rights, and consequently the owners are free to plant and irrigate without restriction. In later years European farmers were no longer permitted to purchase, but much jungle land was leased for seventy-five-year periods. Such leases were made for the most part in mountainous or sparsely settled territory, and as sugar culture thrives best in the low plains where labor is plentiful, sugar has not been benefited as much by the long-term leases as have tea and cinchona bark. Still there are sugar plantations that hold land under perpetual lease with unrestricted rights and water for irrigation.
Plantations situated in the thickly populated lowlands have no trouble in securing labor, but it is another matter in districts that have been newly opened up or on perpetual-lease holdings where the population is small. In the last two cases labor must be brought in from other districts, and sometimes there is difficulty in doing this, especially during the rice harvest or when large public works are under construction.
However, such conditions are unusual, and, as compared with other sugar-producing countries, Java is in a peculiarly fortunate position with respect to a steady supply of good labor at low cost. All of the arduous work is done by men, but women cut cane tops, plant seed and do watering and weeding, while children are employed in destroying insects and other light work.
In April or May, as soon as the rice crop has been cut, the field is prepared for planting sugar cane. The soil is first drained of its superfluous moisture, and, if the ground be loose, it is generally ploughed several times. Heavy soils, instead of being ploughed, are treated by the Reynoso method. This consists of digging deep ditches to carry off the subsoil water and to supply irrigation water later on. The plot is then divided by cross ditches into pieces about one-sixth of an acre in size andfinally the furrows for the seed are dug. These furrows are generally thirty feet long, from twelve to eighteen inches wide, twelve or fifteen inches deep and four or five feet apart. The earth displaced in digging is piled up between the furrows. Thus prepared, the field is left exposed to wind and sun for about six weeks and at the end of this period the heavy wet clods have crumbled into a gray or light-brown powder. During the drying-out process the grass has to be removed repeatedly, and in case of rain, the soil that is washed down into the furrows is thrown back upon the ridges to prevent the furrows from silting up. The hard bottom of the furrow is loosened or square holes are dug in it and filled with loose soil. Part of the earth on the ridges is thrown into the furrow and the field is then ready for planting.
SUGAR CANE AFFECTED BY THE SEREH, JAVA
SUGAR CANE AFFECTED BY THE SEREH, JAVA
SUGAR CANE AFFECTED BY THE SEREH, JAVA
SEEDLING CANES, JAVA
SEEDLING CANES, JAVA
SEEDLING CANES, JAVA
Before the outbreak of the sereh, seed for new plantations was obtained exclusively from tops of ripe cane, but when the disease became prevalent, it was found that cuttings taken from sereh-infected cane gave diseased yields, while cuttings from cane grown in districts not affected by the sereh produced cane that did not suffer so greatly from the disease. At the beginning of the trouble, cuttings from outside healthy districts were used, but as the disease spread, the demand for sound cuttings increased while the sources of supply became fewer. Finally, plantations were established in remote districts free from disease and they were carefully quarantined. Here seedlings were grown from young cane cut at full length, and in this way sound seed was obtainable at all times. Formerly, seed was only to be had in the grinding season, which frequently occasioned delays in planting. The new plan not only enabled the cane growers to stamp out the sereh, but even after the disease had been practically eradicated it was continued because of its manifest advantages.
Seedlings used for planting are cut into lengths, each havingthree eyes. Unhealthy stalks and any showing the presence of insect pests or fungi are culled, while the sound pieces are carefully disinfected. The seed thus prepared is placed horizontally in the furrows end-to-end and covered with earth. At first water is applied at four- or five-day intervals, afterward less frequently, until the cane has attained a considerable height. About this time the rainy monsoon sets in and further irrigation is not needed. The stalks are banked several times during the early period of growth and fertilizing accompanies the second and third banking. Until comparatively recently the fertilizer consisted of nitrogenous substances, while potash and phosphoric acid were considered of no value. The first investigations concerning fertilizers were made on rich lands that had been irrigated with river water when the wet rice crop was being grown, and the water brought with it sufficient potash and phosphates for the needs of the cane. In such cases it was shown that adding these substances to the soil was unnecessary and that nitrogen was the only element that could increase the yield of cane. Hence groundnut cakes and sulphate of ammonia were used almost entirely. It has been proved, however, by more thorough study that much ground is low in phosphates, and this fertilizer has been added with excellent results. As regards potash, the soil of Java seems to contain sufficient for cane cultivation.
When the cane leaves become sufficiently thick to shade the ground the weeds die. Borers, beetle larvae and termites are caught during the early growing period, but all labor stops with the last banking and the advent of the wet monsoon. When the wet season is over, the cane is trashed and samples of the growing cane are taken from the fields and tested in the laboratory of the factory to determine the degree of ripeness. As soon as the roads become dry enough to admit of cane-laden carts passing over them, the harvesting of the ripest cane begins.The cane is dug up by the roots, care being taken to leave as little as possible of the roots in the ground. The roots and the earth adhering to them are removed, together with the leaves and tops, and the clean cane is loaded on cars to be taken to the mill.
Formerly carts drawn by oxen and buffaloes were used to transport the cane to the factory, but the crop has grown to such proportions that cattle-drawn carts have had to give way to the rail. Today nearly every plantation has its own railroad with permanent and portable tracks, over which the cane moves in cars hauled by cattle or locomotives.
Having been unloaded at the mill, the cane is taken to the crushers on carriers. Three sets of rolls are generally used and water is sprayed on the cane before the last crushing, after which the bagasse is fed to the furnaces as fuel. The juice is strained to free it from fragments of cane and leaves, then milk of lime is added and heat applied. The heavy impurities settle at the bottom, the clear juice is drawn off and the remaining juice is separated from the foreign matter in the filter presses. Another method is to treat the juice at a low temperature with a large admixture of milk of lime, and afterward with carbonic acid or sulphurous acid until all the lime is neutralized. Then all the juice is clarified by filtration without the settling operation. Next follow evaporation, refiltering, boiling to grain and separation of the crystals from the mother liquor in centrifugal machines.
In 1903 the Java manufacturers began to make a bid for the British Indian trade. After some experimenting they succeeded in producing an almost-white raw sugar, which at once found favor in India, where sugar refined by the bone-char process was objected to for religious reasons. Statistics compiled for the year 1912 show that this so-called “Java white” represented 39.2 per cent of the entire output; 26.2 per cent was muscavado,29.9 per cent European assortment and 4.7 per cent second sugars.
Java, with her population of more than thirty millions, presents altogether different conditions to the sugar grower than other cane-producing countries. A large proportion of the agricultural area is needed for crops of food to nourish the inhabitants. The land available for sugar cane is rented at an equitable figure and, as has been said, there is always an ample supply of cheap and readily obtainable labor. The aim of the Javan planter is to produce cane carrying a high sugar content and to get as great a yield as possible. To this end, unceasing attention is paid to cultivation, fertilizing and the general well-being of the crop; in other words, the soil is worked for all there is in it.
While the scientists of the country are absorbed in the task of producing through cross-culture new species of cane that will give a heavier yield per acre with a higher sugar content and greater purity, the agriculturists are opening up extensive fresh tracts of rice and cane land. New irrigation projects play an important part in this development and everything points to a steady growth of the industry.
The following table shows the annual output since 1840 in tons of 2240 pounds: