Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-04-28
THE CROPS OF JAVA.
THICKLY SETTLED ISLAND A
BEE HIVE OF INDUSTRY.
Rotation Of Crops the Year Round
on Highly Cultivated Soil. Ami
mails and Government of
the Island.

ly one is prone to wonder how the
enormous population of the Island
of Java raise enough to sustain life.
1t must be remembered that this
island of Java is the property Of
Holland, and is governed by the
Dutch. They have brought here the
economic ideas of their own land
with the result that there is not
foot of tillable land on the island
that is not under the highest state
of cultivation. 1t would surprise
any one in the United States il they
could see how those people cultivate
the soil. No only in the lowlands,
and valleys, but every bit of noun
tain is utilized. Even the active
volcanies, and there are hundreds OF
them, are used for farms. The
mountains are all terraced to their
tops and each terrace is cultivated =
to it's extreme. | have seen inten-
sive cultivation before but never as
it is practiced here. l went over
one of the mountains yesterday and
found that from base to summit 1T
| was planted to all sorts of cereals,
beginning with rice on the lower
terraces and ending with corn on
| the upper ones. Each terrace is per-
| fectly drained and irrigated and
there is a rotation of crops all the
year round.
Each native has his or her spe-
| cial duties to perform, and each re-
ceives full pay for everything that.
| is done. There is never a question:
of fraud on the part of any officiaB
of the government or of any land
| 40 ic ho
people are not only happy but are
prosperous beyond what one would
naturally expect in such densely
populated country.
1t must be remembered that this
cultivation does not cover the entire
| island, for a great part of it is wild
jungle, peopled with wild ami
mails and reptiles. The snakes one
meets in a days travel would drive
a nervous person into Mysteries,
while the queer animals and birds
| keeps one in constant wonderment.
On my trip to the mountain yester-
day l saw hundreds of poisonous
snakes, the bite of any onesof which
would have stopped these letters.
1t is queer that there are not more
deaths from sncke bites in this
country, but the natives are very
| careful, and few of them are bit
ten. Monkeys are great pest but
| are held sacred just as they are in
some parts of India and are seldom
molested. They are queer little fell
lows. and make great pets. In the
deeper forests are many little apes
Tigers and other members of the
cat tribe, especially leopards and a
species of panther are to be found.
and in the back districts carry off
many people every year. They
sometimes come close to the cul-
tivated lands and have been seen at
night in the streets of Batavia.
There is also species of rhinocer-
Gus to be found in the hills. It
roams the highest mountains. and
climbs like goat. 1t is savage and
the natives give it a wide birth
when they come across it, II af-
fords good hunting for white men,
for 1t is not afraid and puts up a
good fight when it is cornered.
am much pleased with the gov
ernment of this island, and wish
that other governments could take
lessons from the Dutch and govern
their provinces as well. The French
and English could take many les
sons to their advantage from the
:ule here. Every native feels that
he is entitled to his rights in all
things and there is never a question
as to his obtaining exact justice.
AS | said in a previous letter they
are all honest. and The courts have
almost nothing to do. have it
from good authority that there has
not been a native arrested for a
crime for many years. There have
been some minor misdemeauors,
but even these are so rare as to
cause comment when they occur.
l am going to take trip to the
interior of the island for three or
four days, and expect to find many
things that will be strange and in
teresting. They tell me that in
many parts of the interior not more
than dozen white men have ever
penetrated. There are no roads and
no means of travel except on foot,
but the trip is certainly we'll worth
the trouble.
CLARENCE E. EDWORDS.