| RESIDENCY | FACTORIES | ACREAGE IN CANE | SUGAR PRODUCED TONS OF 2240 LBS. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheribon | 12 | 22,346 | 85,728 | |
| Pekalongan | 15 | 29,847 | 124,322 | |
| Samarang | 12 | 22,490 | 97,462 | |
| Banjoemas | 5 | } | 18,640 | 82,142 |
| Kedoe | 2 | } | ||
| Djokjakarta | 18 | 27,785 | 120,384 | |
| Soerakarta | 16 | 24,122 | 97,706 | |
| Madioen | 6 | 13,376 | 47,463 | |
| Kediri | 20 | 48,005 | 195,232 | |
| Sourabaya | 38 | 65,633 | 275,920 | |
| Pasoeroean | 29 | 57,684 | 199,390 | |
| Bezoeki | 11 | 16,763 | 58,493 | |
| Total | 184 | 346,691 | 1,384,242 | |
While these figures show the acreage actually under cane, the total amount of land used in the production of the crop is much greater. It takes over twelve months for the cane to mature, and as some fields are being cut others are being planted. The ground required for factory buildings, dwellings, roads and other purposes connected with the industry must also be taken into account, and it has been estimated that altogether 1,200,000 acres are tributary to cane culture. The annual plantings cover about 350,000 acres and the portion of the remainder that is not devoted to roads, buildings and so forth is sown with other crops or allowed to lie fallow for a time.
The general plan of crop rotation on an average is:
| First year | May-October, sugar-cane crop is cut. |
| ” | October-November, soya beans, maize, etc. |
| ” | November-April, rice. |
| Second year | April-November, indigo, tobacco, beans, fallow. |
| ” | November-April, rice. |
| Third year | April until May-October of the fourth year, sugar-cane crop. |
Sometimes tapioca is planted instead of rice immediately after the cane crop is harvested, but cane invariably follows a rice crop. The European planter confines his operations to sugar cane, and the other products are raised by the native farmer exclusively by his own efforts and on his own account.
The terms under which plantation land is held in Java differ widely from those that govern in other cane-growing countries. Between 1830 and 1879, when the compulsory cultural plan was in effect, the government determined what lands were to be planted in cane. It compelled the natives to cultivate and harvest the crop, but allowed them compensation for their labor and the use of their fields. The wages thus paid were ultimately accounted for when the sugar was sold by the government. Each district, or group of districts, delivered the cane product to the mill agreed upon and the grinding was done under a contract with the government.
When, at a later period, the sugar estates had to produce their own cane, they gradually took over the land on a rental basis and grew cane upon it by paid native labor. In 1879, when cultivation was free, the government factories had 7531 acres leased from the natives, in addition to 64,470 acres of cane that they ground under contract with the government. At this time the independent factories had 16,824 acres rented and were growing cane upon it under their own management and for their own account.
During the gradual abolition of the cultural system, the fields first given up by the government were those situated at a considerable distance from the factories and those to which it was difficult to bring water for irrigation. It came about naturally that when the factories had the selecting of the lands they were to rent, they picked out the best in their neighborhood for their purposes. In this way an exchange of the tilled fields was effected. Subsequently, estates were extended and new tracts of land occupied, but in increasing the acreage, each factory was careful to confine its operations to its own district and thus avoid competing with other factories in renting new ground. The old-established factories already had their acreage, and when the compulsory cultivation plan was abandoned, they mutually agreed upon the territory in which each factory should rent land without interference on the part of any of the others. Whenever a new plantation was established, its district was clearly defined, so it will be seen that under this plan there could be no competitive bidding on land rents. There have been instances of newcomers having disregarded this convention, but in every case they have sooner or later acknowledged their error, and today there is perfect harmony among the factors as to the territory in which each interest rents its land.
In Java, cane is almost always grown on lands irrigated by the same means that are employed in irrigating rice, the privilege of using these works being included in the rent of the land. Under the compulsory régime it was the rule that in the dry season irrigation water should be utilized for the cane fields during the day and for native agriculture during the night, and this regulation remained effective after the withdrawal of the government from the industry.
As the water supply was controlled by private enterprises, it frequently happened that in a time of scarcity it was not impartially distributed. After 1890, when the acreage of the cane plantations was being constantly extended, the authorities found themselves obliged to prevent encroachment by the cane growers on the land required to produce the necessities of life for the natives, and also to see to it that the new extensions of cane land should not be allowed to appropriate an undue proportion of the available water to the detriment of both the established plantations and the native agriculture. Accordingly, in 1894, legislation touching the renting of land and the use of water was begun, the principal features being as follows: