CULTIVATION OF THE COFFEE PLANT Page 8

In some parts of the island, especially in the highlands, the climate and soil are ideal for coffee culture. The robusta tree grows satisfactorily even at altitudes of less than 1,000 feet in some regions; but its bearing life is only about ten years, as compared with the thirty years of the arabica at altitudes of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. The low-ground trees generally produce earlier and more abundantly. On some of the highland plantations, pruning is not practised to any great extent, and the trees often reach thirty or forty feet in height. This necessitates the use of ladders in picking; but frequently the yield per tree has been from six to seven pounds.

Native Picking Coffee, Sumatra

Coffee is produced commercially in nearly every political district in Java, but the bulk of the yield is obtained from East Java. The names best known to European and American traders are those of the regencies of Besoeki and Pasoeroean; because their coffees make up eighty-seven percent of Java's production. Some of the other better known districts are: Preanger, Cheribon, Kadoe, Samarang, Soerabaya, and Tegal.

The arabica variety has practically been driven out of the districts below 3,500 feet altitude by the leaf disease, and has been succeeded by the more hardy robusta and liberica coffees and their hybrids. Illustrating the importance of robusta coffee, Netherlands East India government in a statement issued August, 1919, estimated the area under cultivation on all islands as follows: robusta, eighty-four percent; arabica, five and one-half percent; liberica, four and one-half percent. The balance, six percent, was made up of scores of other varieties, among the most important being the canephora, Ugandæ, baukobensis, suakurensis, Quillou, stenophylla, and rood-bessige. All of these are similar to robusta, and are exported as robusta-achtigen (robusta-like). The liberica group includes the excelsa, abeokuta, Dewevrei, arnoldiana, aruwimiensis, and Dybowskii.

Palatial Bungalow of Administrator, Dramaga, in the Preanger District, Java

Sumatra. Practically all the coffee districts in Sumatra are on the west coast, where the plant was first propagated early in the eighteenth century. Padang, the capital city, is the headquarters for Sumatra coffee. With climate and soil similar to Java, the island of Sumatra has the added advantage that its land is not "coffee moe", or coffee tired, as is the case in parts of Java. Some of the world's best coffees are still coming from Sumatra; and the island has possibilities that could make it an important factor in production. Sumatra produced 287,179 piculs of coffee in 1920. The total production of all the islands that year was 807,591 piculs.