ation 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.

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_, _Ugandae_,
_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_.

[Illustration: PALATIAL BUNGALOW OF ADMINISTRATOR, DRAMAGA, IN THE
PREANGER DISTRICT, JAVA]

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