In the course of time, the system of private ownership gradually expanded beyond that of the government; and before the end of the nineteenth century, private owners were growing and exporting more coffee than did the Javanese government. The government withdrew from the coffee business in Java in 1905, and the last government auction was held in June of that year. The monopoly in Sumatra was given up in 1908. After that, however, coffee continued to be grown on government lands, but in much less quantity than in the years immediately preceding. The Dutch government withdrew from all coffee cultivation in 1918-19. According to statistics, the ground under cultivation for all kinds of coffee in Java and the other islands of the Dutch East Indies in 1919 was 142,272 acres, of which 112,138 acres were in Java. Of this area, 110,903 acres were planted with _robusta_, 15,314 acres with _arabica_, 4,940 with _liberica_, and 11,115 with other varieties. There were more than 400 European-managed estates in 1915, covering a planted area of about 209,000 acres. Three hundred and thirty of these estates, representing 165,000 acres, were in Java. On that island production in 1904 was 47,927,000 pounds; in 1905, 59,092,000 pounds; in 1906, 66,953,000 pounds; in 1907, 31,044,000 pounds; 1908, 39,349,000 pounds. The total crop in 1919 for all the Netherlands East Indies was 97,361,000 pounds, as against 140,764,800 pounds for 1918. Intensive cultivation methods on the European-operated plantations in Java have been practised for many years; and the Netherlands East Indies government has long maintained experimental stations for the purpose of improving strains and cultivation methods. [Illustration: ROAD THROUGH A COFFEE ESTATE IN EAST JAVA] 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. [Illustration: 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.