The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom: Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.Simmonds, P. L. (Peter Lund)
Science
The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom: Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.
Simmonds, P. L. (Peter Lund)
Botany, Economic
1840 1841
Residences in which this produce has been
cultivated in 1840 and 1841 20 20
Number of families destined for the labor 470,673 453,289
Trees which have yielded a crop 916,193,894 216,085,600
Trees which have produced the average quantity
of a picul of 125 lbs. Dutch 280 248
Quantity of coffee furnished to the godowns
in piculs 706,258 877,444
Trees according to the reckoning made in the
month of March, 1841 and 1842 336,922,460 329,898,936
The comparative result of this table shows--1st. That, in the year
1841, coffee had been gathered from 20,000,000 more trees than the
number in 1840, and that the crop had increased by 171,000 piculs.
2nd. That, in the month of March, 1842, there were above 7 millions
less of coffee trees than in 1840. This diminution is merely nominal,
seeing that these trees have served to replace those which by their
small produce have to be suppressed in the lowlands of the residency
of Baylen. On the contrary, the increase of trees, planted from 1839
to 1840, amount to very nearly the same number, of 7 millions.
3rd. That, in the season of 1842, there was planted nearly 20 millions
of plants; of which 12 millions are to serve to replace the old trees,
and 8 millions are destined to extend this culture. It is calculated
that this island will very soon be in a condition to produce a million
of piculs or 125 millions more of Dutch pounds of coffee. Previous to
1830, Java scarcely exported as much as 40 millions of pounds.
_Cultivation and Preparation of Coffee in Java_.--For the following
valuable details I am indebted to M. de Munnick, the inspector of the
agricultural department, Batavia, as contributed to my "Colonial
Magazine" (vol. xi. p. 46).
_Soil and Situation_.--Elevated lands are found to be those best
suited for the growth of coffee in Java. Land situated between 1,000
and 4,000 feet above the level of the sea may be generally said to be
adapted to the cultivation of coffee. It must not be taken for granted
that all ground of less elevation is unsuited. Suitable ground is to
be found lower down, but the cultivation on it is more difficult; the
tree gives less fruit, and the plant is less durable. Valleys lying
between high mountains are more especially fit for coffee plantations,
because the soil which is washed down from the heights affords fresh
food continually to the lowlands; the valleys themselves are moist,
since the hills surrounding them attract the rain; and they are shut
out from severe winds by the same protecting enclosure. The soils best
suited to the successful growth of coffee may be classed as follows:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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