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C H A P T E R III.
Importance of
agriculture to
Importance ofAgricultm eJoJm a.~-Soil-^Stak o f the Peasantry.—Price o f
■Mee,—Subsistence o f the Peasantry.—Dwelling.^Agricultural Stocks—
ImplemtOs o f Fwming^TrrScasom.—Different Kinds of L m d ^ R k e Cultivation.—
Maize, %c— Sugar.— Gojfee.— Pepper.—Indigo.—.Cotton.—To-'
bqcco.—Tenupe q f landed Property.
T H E island of Java is a great agricultural country;rils.sod is the grand
source of its wealth. , In its cultivation the inhabitants exert their chief
industry, and upon its produce they rely, not only for their subsistence, '
but the few articles of foreign. luxury or. convenience which they purchase. ■
The, Javans are a nation of husbandmen, and exhibit that simple structure
of society incident to' Such a stage of its progress. To i the crop the mechanic
looks immediately for his wages, the soldier for his pay, -tbeTnagis-
trate for his salary, the priest for Ms-stipend (or jakat),. and the government 1
for its tribute. The wealth of a province or village is measured, .byiftbei-
extent and fertility of its land, its- facilities for rice irrigation, and‘-the”
number of its- buffaloes.
When government wishes to raise -supplies from particular districts^ it -
does not enquire how many rupees or dollars it can yield m taxes, but what
contribution ofriee or maize it can furnish, and the impost is assessed
accordingly : the officer of revenue becomes a surveyor of land -or a measurer
of produce, and the fruits of the harvest are brought immediately: ’
into the ways and means of the treasury. When a chief gives his assistance
in’ the police or the magistracy, he is paid by so much village land, or the
rent of so much land realized in produce ; and a native prince has no_other
means of pensioning a fevofirite, or rewarding a,-useful s e r v a n t .R e it'
“ known to the high officers of?my palace, to vaytBopdtis (regents), and to
“ my Mdntris (petite noblesse'),” says a Javan patent of nobility granted'by.
Sultan Hamangku Buana, “ that I have given tMs letter to my servant to?
“ raise him from the earth, bestowing upon him, for his subsistence, lands
. « to
“ to the amount of: el even? hundred* ichachas,ffi&&\'afoouT of eleven hundred
<c men.’,’ Bytherpopulation- returns, and foyfthe number 'of leases granted
nnrlpr the, la ta , settlemeniin i t < ap'pe'ars,. A a t sotaefrrdes there'is npt more
than a tenth .part pf the mhabitantsfefnplo^:eSi'iin any other branch of industry.
Out ofi1 ai\population: of/243,268-,in the> Bridng’Cn regencies/ '€09,125 are
stated,* as.iemployed'in agriculture;! In Stirab'dya,< *fhe -proportion.of houS'e-
hpldersi'who a is cultivators, is-tothe resiofrtbeanhabitaiits *as32$6l8 to 634 ;
irXrSemarang, jasl^8fS@,6.ftp 21/404 rinsMemfrang)it is'.&sl §5{SOO
■andjin other ^districts there are ^considerable variations ; but it rarely happens,
that, thh^ people employed in tradephn’ manufactures, uii'hhndidraStS, off0th'e‘r -
dvocationsyfamount- to a half of those engaged in- agriculture/- ora third of the
whole population. n'The. proportion, on ah average,'maylbe'Statfed .hs tlhge1
andiadr^frerribufelta=ohe; ifrTsriErighmd, it i's;Wellkn6wn,:;the;ratio ‘is‘feVfsrSed,'
itsagriculthral population/feeing' to its-general population aS-tihelfo threh-br
two and ahatf/^ By:the 'Survey's' latefy made/under the’ orders of-the11 British
government, iwe-are’ tenabfed’to describe thetprbce'ssbsrof': Javan- agficulthfe,1
%nd 'to ;state.its <reSuttsLwith [‘mere1 -accuracy and ih-i greater detail, than can
be attained on many! subjects of-superior-public‘interest.- I f vvh avail hur-
selves foh-’these means prettly largely, it is not^sd much -in the Hope of
increasing the. stock! of .agricultural knowledge;'? as* of, assisting' the rfeaeter' to
form- ^n^pstjmatef of the character, habits, ,wahts; -and resources df the Jayan.
:The -soils pf?Java;i tfabugh sinf many parts muchhegl’efeted; ds remarkable SoH.
ifpj the abundapepiapd. variety ofdte praduetiohs. ’ Wim very'-tlittle'cafe or
e^fitetion, :on_ the part -pfi-.the cultivator, -it yields'“* all that the whnts of the
island- demand, and is capable ndftsupplyihg fSsbfire^s far above any thing
that the indolence, tteignoranceoefothe people,-either oppressed under the
despotism, of their own ssovereigns, - dr- *harrdSsed;--by the rapacity of
Strangers, have yet permitted them to enjoy, hTying UnderJ a tropical su'hj
it -pl'e-dupes,. as- before observed; all the fruitS-of5' a tropical1 Jcli'ma’te ; 'while,
in many districts, its mountains and ertiinenGfes make up. for the difference
of latitude,''and give it, though only a few degrees from the line, all the
advantages of temperate-regions. The - bambtf, the cocoa-nut tree, the
SngaiVcane, ithe'! cotton tree, and the coffee ■ plant, here (flourish in- the
greatest luxuriance, and yield products of the best -quality. Rice, the
great staple of. subsistence, covers the slopes of mountains and the low fields,
and gives a return of thirty, forty, or fifty fold; while maize, or even wheat
and. rye, and the other plants of Europe, may .be cultivated to advantage on
- P 2 high