254 255
MOHR: Soil and Population Density
nutmeg and mace. Curiously enough, all t hese
isla nds are volcanic. Buru, Ceram a nd Misool
are much larger, but not volcanic, and these the
company ignored.
In the Small Sunda Islands group we have Bali
dominated by Mount Batur, Lombok by Mount
Rinjani . These two volcanoes have provided
their respecti ve territories with first-rate juvenile
soil, on which has arisen a dense , prosperous and
highl y cu ltivated population. Sumba, on the
other hand, has had very little volcanic influence,
its dreary , desert-li ke wastes being composed
chiefly of bare, calcareous roc ks. All there is of
good soi l is washed or blown from the hi ghlands
in to the lowla nds a nd hence we find , besides the
THE RELATION BET\\TEEN SOIL AND POPULATION
DENSITY IN THE NETHERLANDS INDIES
by
E. C. J. MOHR,
E xtension A gronomist, Colonial Institute of Amsterdam !' late Director , 9eneral
A gricultural E xp eriment S lalion , Builenzorg; lale .Geol9gls1 and .Ped~logtsl, Depl.
of A griculture, BILiten zorg; Special Professor of S OLI Sc tence, Unwerstty of Utrecht.
If we wis h to ma ke a study of the rela tion be-
tween popula tion density a nd soil , we must con-
fin e ourselves t o regions wh ere th e distributi on
is not de pendent , or a t least not a ltogethe r de-
pend ent, on mea ns of subsist a nce which a re
enti rely, or a lmost entirely , inde pende nt of th e
na ture of th e soil , such as tra de (import-tra d e,
export-tra de, tra nsit-tra de); mining ; industry
based o n mined raw ma t eri a ls, or on ma te ria ls
brought from a di st a nce a nd th e like. \IIIe must
confine ourselves, then, t o specific ally agriw itural
areas, where a gric'u/t lIYe (tn d /lOrtic·ltitn re and
f orestry are t.he 01l1y, or at least by f or the 1II0st i·l/1.-
portant, meall s of earning a living .
As the Netherla nd s Indi es is still a t the present
time largely an agricultura l region of this kind ,
it is a pa rticu la rl y suita ble obj ect of stud y in
connection with our problem. Thanks to the
exce llent Ce nsus, t a ken in 1930,' we know fa irl y
we ll wha t th e population is in different parts of
the archipelago. These fi gures show th a t the
d ensity va ries from less than on e t o more than a
thousa nd souls per km 2 • In othe r words th e
differences are enormous. H e nce to treat th e
wh ole arch ipe lago as if it we re a uni form area
a nd could be studied as s uch is out of the q ues-
tion.
For, whi le the ave rage for the whole t erritory
is put at 31.89, we find Java and Mad ura run-
nin g up to 316.11 and on the other hand, the
Outer Provinces fa lling to 10.73 - a s urpri sing
contra st indeed. And within the Oute r Prov-
inces themselves we meet with very great dif-
ferences. For Ba li a nd Lombok th e figure is
175.18, for Ce lebes 22.39 , for Suma tra 17.43 and
then aga in there is Borneo with 4.02 a nd N ew
Guinea with 0.73. H ence we wi ll consider the
islands and is la nds groups separately first and
then finally compare these very greatly va rying
territories with each other.
* Reprinted from Com ptes R elld ll S d ll Congres 11ller lla- impoverished . On a nd round a recent volcano
l1'o1lal de Gengra phie, A msterdam , 1938, Tome D e uxieme,
Sect ion IlI e. pp. 4;8-493 ( 1938) .
1 The Report is being published in a series of v olumes, the
fiTst of which a ppeared in 1933 .
MOHR: Soil and Population Density
very poor, utterl y deserted areas mentioned litt le e lse as yet in the way of newly form ed so il
material. Such juvenile volcanic ash-soi ls are
a bove, also fairl y prosperous plains. extraordinary ric h. Is it an y wonder, then, that
The above ma y be s ummarized as follows : It is true that a people ri sk the dangers of anothe r eruption and
fall of rain may be a bl essing to an agricultural ar parched eagerly choose suc h land to settle on?
from drought, but it is eq ually true that in the tropical zone Now steep slopes are a lways more difficult to
in the na rrowe r sense of the term - the zone in w hic h the bring under cu ltivation and a lso to live on than
Netherla nds Indies a re situa ted - too much ra in is bad plains; it is therefore that the more level river-
a nd . further, that a bundant rainfall is t he cause o f continu-
a lly increasing impoveris hment of the soil. The o nly regen-
lowlands at the foot of the volcanoes are pre-
e ra tio n o f the soil tha t s pells radical improveme nt is that ferred to the ir s lopes. Moreover as a rule the
produced by v olcanoes. \ Vitho ut active volca noes the plains get more sunshine ; this is ~ matter ~f di -
fulure ca n o nl y mean retrogressio n. But re trogression may rect importance to the vegetation b ut it is a lso
be greatly reta rded a nd counteracted by human action. indirectly significa nt, for the re~son that the
This last is the s ple ndid task of the science of agriculture. ferti lity of the soil is promoted thereby.
Much has already been ac hieved alo ng this line, a nd Th e .following di stricts in West Java (see
proba bly much more will be achieved in the future.
ta ble) llius trate the above. Th e most juve nile
Volcanoes Di stricts on slopes
Gedeh ( 1) Tjibadak
(2)
(3)
Tjiawi
Pat je t
(4) Tjibeber
(5) S uka bumi
Ph.D.* Tangkuba n (6) Tjika langwet a n
Pra hu (7) Purwa ka rta
(8) Segala hera ng
(9) Le mba ng
( 10) Tjima hi
1. JAVA. If we examine the la rge volumes Gunt ur (I I) Leles
conta inin g the Ce nsus Returns for 1930! we fin d ( 12) T rago ng
that t o each o f its several pa rts dealing WIth Ga lunggung ( 13) Ga ru t
West J ava (I) , Ce ntra l J ava (II) a nd East Java (14) T asikma laya
plus M a dura (III) is a ppended a map. on \ .hlch ( IS ) Tjiawi
the country is divid ed into admil1lstratlOna l
( 16) Singapa rna
units ca lled district s and coloured in e ig ht shades Tj e rim ai ( 17) M adj a le ngka
indica ting popula tion d ensity . Those who do
( 18) R adjaga luh
( 19) Tjili m us
not know Java a nd its soil will lea rn little fr? m (2 0) Kuninga n
those maps and see nothing but colours showll1g (2 I) Telaga
that th e popula tion is ve ry dense in and arou~d
the big cities, and furth er, tha t there .are c~rtall1
, These fig ures for the dls tncts have been recalculated afte r deduc tlOn of the popula tion of the municipalities and towns
districts where there are less than 75 ll1habltants a nd naturally the a rea of these.
per km' ; many where th ere are between 150 and
soils, not even turned brown yet, a re to be found
500 and severa l with between 500 and 1000 al - 111 (9) to (14); most weather-worn and lixi v iated
tho~ gh they do not include a la rge city. But as
(by heavy rain s !) are those of (6) to (8). Note-
soon as we begin to notice the topography and \~o.rthy are the corresponding popu lation den -
geology of Java, th e climate and the SOl i t y pes of
s ItIes of th e s l:lrrou.~ding~ of the large r towns such
the different pa rts of the island, these ma ps be- as SU.ka bUI:ll, !Jlmahl, Garut, Ma dj a leng ka ,
g in to t a ke on a grea t er significa nce for us. . to whIc h TJandJur (500) Buitenzorg (577) and
In general we may assume that whe re the ~Oll Mr. Cornelis (550) may be added. Such a cor-
is good a nd fe rti le, agricultura l crops wlll bring
respondence mig ht in dicate that the said figures
in a rich harvest with th e result that th e popu- were du e more to the vicinity of a large town .
lation wh ich cultivated th em is not only satisfied
But tha t would mean that in Central and East
with past success, but is, furth er, insP.ired. to Java and e lsewhere, too, the same figures would
brin g more a nd more land under cultlvatlOn .
be found in th e ne ig hbourhood of large towns.
If on the othe r hand the ha rvest is poor, th e ThIS IS, however, by no means the case. Take
tenuency will be to cultivate more intensively
the following districts, for instance (capitals
or to move away to another place where more excluded):
s uccess may be anticipated.
On the island of J ava - and as we shall see S lawi 797 Ambarawa
Tegal 1052 Sala t iga
later , this really applies to the whole of th e
P e ka la ngan 1486 Ba yalali
Neth erlands Indies - experience has shown that
the 'most f ertile soil types are related to volcanoes.
Purbalingga 7I 2 Sragen
S uka radj a 746 Bla ra
\II.Ie find th em on their slopes, at their base and Kebumen 795 Tj epuh
in th e basins of rive rs, the wa ter and si lt of Purworedjo 8 37 Badjanegara
whic h comes from a volcano. B ut s uch volcanoes Kl a ten 1023 Tuban
must be recellt must have been active within th e Kudu s 900 Lamonga n
Tulungag un g 77 0 Paree
most recent ieological period or be active still.
Old v olcanoes are covered with more or less Probalinggo 710 Bondowoso
worn-out , se nile soil, which, still cultiva ble and A lthou gh, as we have seen, th e fact that it
physica lly good for vegetation, is very much contains a fairl y large town , does influence th e
density of the population of the district, yet in
the so il is usuall y composed of or d erived from Java the nature of the soil is a more important
volca nic ashes and sand, in fact often contains
factor. Witn ess the following facts: S lawi and
Tegal derive the!r fertility from the youn g vol-
ca no, Siamat, vIa the river Ka li Gung; Pur-
bohnggo and Sukaradja lie on that same moun-
tain's so uth ea stern spu r ; K laten has the fin est
Me:api-soil, Tulungagung has the same fin e soil
d erived from K lut and Probolinggo gets it from
the La mongan volcano. On th e oth er hand
Ambarawa a nd Sa latiga are on old er volcanic
soi l ; Blora,. Tj epuh , Tuban , Bodjonegoro and
Lamongan 111 a tertiary area , far away from the
nearest v?lcano. At Paree the soi l is composed
of Klut-eJecta; these are not fin e as in Tulunga -
g ung hmve.ve:, but .more sand y a nd st ony. Not
~ o eas.y to lrnga t e eIth e r, a nd , besid es, ra th er too
Juvend e. Hence the fi gnre f or each district can be
Population Re ma rks
The Gede h-soils a re no longer full y juveni le . The dis-
296
3 12
292
tricts ( I) . (3 ) a nd (4) include a lso man y older no n-
Gedeh-sails. (5 ). e ven if the capita l is excluded . is
315 hig h on account of the vici nity of this large town
562' (vegeta ble a nd flower culture).
198 The nor t hern s lopes of th e T a ngkuban P ra hu a re a l-
189 ready rather senile; rejuve nescences have taken place
19 1 to th e South in the direc ti o n of (9) a nd ( 10 ) . (9 ) li es
441 hi gher. With pata t ae and vegetable culture; ( 10) has
37 1* more plallls a nd , moreo ver, has t he ga rrison as a n
o utle t.
4 52 ~ ot h dis tricts have sawa hs wi t h s ple ndid yields i be-
514 Sides fis h culture.
552* (13) and (14) have m ore pla ins t han (IS) and (16).
637' (16) lies high a nd is accide nted. incl ud es a lso no n-
476 Galunggung-soils, but all soils a re volca nic.
3 17
530* ( 17) a nd ( 18) have more lowla nds. Besides rice. sugar
520 is already c ulli va ted here. But (17). li ke ( 19) . (2 0 )
368 a nd (21) , a lread y includes some bad tertia ry a reas.
354
437
'
explain ed O~t th e. ground of tIl e nature of the soil
combtned wtth cltmattc couditio1ls. But th ere a re
exceptiona l cases too. For instance : the hig h
figure f~r Pek~lon gan and th e surrounding
country IS certa1l11y due to the batik industry
loca ted .there, a nd tha t of Kudus t o the na ti ve
clgaret .lndu ~ try. More sig nificant sti ll in this
connectlOn IS th~t b e twe~n .Slawi and Tegal
t~ere bes th e Adl\verno dIstrict, complet ely ir-
ri gated but n ot includin g a single large town .
The populatlOn d enSIty th ere is 163& - the high-
est of any country di strict in the Neth erland s
Indi es. Without Slamat's good' gifts such a
numerous population would be out of question
there.
As a matter of fact th ese good gifts of Siamat's,
and also those of the Dic ng volcanoes were car-
368
ried southwards with th e wa'te rs of' the river
387
360 Seray u to the sea . . And th e sea gave them back
to th e la nd in th e form of sand and dun es along
35 3
305 the coast from Maos on far to th e E astward .
236 Further on other rivers worked to the same end
232 with the result that a lon g the who le South coast
3 12
from Maos t o Djocja a ll the coasta l districts
341
335
show an average den sity of between 500 and
900. Eastward and westward Siamat could
278.
hardly shed it~ beneficence because of the pres-
ence of older hIghlands. Hence we find districts
there with only from 300 to 400 inha bita nts per
km.'
Th e country surroundin g th e l\IIerapi is an -

MOA R: Soil and Population Density
other remarkable case. This volca no, t he last
eruption of which was only seven years ago, has
recent ly sent its ashes, sa nd a nd sto nes more.
especiall y in a weste rly to so ut h-westerly dI-
rect ion' to t he North lies G unung Merbab u,
barring th e way and to th e £.ast a rin gwall, o,:",eci
wh ich only light , powde red eJ ect~ can be carne
to cover t he land as aeria l deposits. Round the
foot run the rivers which sort ~ut th e you ~g
fertile soil-ingred ients a nd deposit .them aga ll1
as a lluvia l types of soil still more fertile tha n t hat
fou nd on the moun ta in slopes ; to th e 'West runs
INDI~cHE
_ F IGURE 71 (see p. 256)-
th e Progo to the So uth the Opak, t o th e East
the Denk~ng and Solo rive rs. T o the No~th
t here is none. And now for t he comparative
density of the population (see Fig. 71).
To the South a nd South W est, where the
yo ungest sa nd and block strea ms came w~ see a
density ra nging betwee n 543 and 653 (1), more
to the South on the allu via l soil, from 800 to
900' westwards from here, across the Progo
va ll~y , 378 to 500, and t hen a long the coast the
fi gures rise once more. On th e east ern slopes
t he density is 600, a bove these 400 a nd on th e
saddle betwee n Merapi a nd ]\II erba~ u , where
there is extensive forest reserve which more-
over t he yo ungest ashes did not reach , only 245.
At th e foot th e figures rise to 800 or even to
more than 1000 (Kia ten , the ce ntre of the to-
256
bacco c ulture in t he Native States). On the
east ern ba nks of the ri vers Kali Denkeng a nd
Ka li Solo the de nsity sud denly drops from more
t ha n 800 to less than 50.0 - much less ash from
t he Merapi reached thiS a rea. Nor oes t he
density exceed 500 in the highla nd s to the N~rth .
The proximity of the la rge to\~' n o~ S ura~arta
does not see m to infl uence t he situatIO n ; nelt~e~
does Magela ng affect the surroundll1g co untl y,
a ll depend s on th e volcanic prod ucts - ~n the
soil ; and rive rs act as frontierlin es even 111 t he
matte r of density of popu la tIOn.
Typica l too in thi s connection is the co urse of
the river 'Bra;l las, especially there. where, near
Blitar, the ejecta from Klut enter ItS. waters, .to
be sorted or mixed a nd then. depos ited aga ll1 .
The ex tensive higher portIOns of Sn;ngat,
Ngadi luweh and Paree a re as yet too a nd on
acco unt of excessive sa nd , gravel a nd stones to
bring the ave rage higher tha n abo ut 400. Along
t he Brantas the fi gure is higher (Tulung Agung
(770*),' Ked iri (490*), but then come Pa p: r
(610)' Wa rudj ajeng (72 1) ; Kertosono (609. ),
D' on;bang (672*), Mod joagung (637); ModJ ~­
k~rto (556*), Krian (703) , Taman (617), SI-
, An asterisk means that. as mentioned bef?r~. the ~g~{~
in Question has been arri ved a.t after the Pd9Pu.a~Hhn a n be~n
area of the (main lown) cap it al of the lstnc ave
subtracted from the total popula tion and the total area.
257
doardjo (455), Modjoasri (541), Porong (696),
Gempol (656), Bangil (479*) . Bot h to the North
a nd to the South of this series th e fi gures are be-
low (400), and in the ter tiary marls of the ad-
jacent Gunung K endeng even below 200.
Above we spoke of th e benefi cent effect of
volcanoes. But not a ll volcanoes are the sa me.
T he above mentioned ones all provide basic
rock, with muc h lime, magnesia, iron, potassium,
phosphoric acid in them. But volca noes often
produce acid rocks containing muc h silicic acid,
little lime a nd little iron. The soil derived from
s uch rocks is in general ph ysically less loose and
often very sticky and heavy; chemically less rich,
too. In J ava the re is only one region in which
such roc ks occur to any great extent, namely
Bantam. Where they predominate the fertility
of the soil, hence the agricultura l returns, hence
the density of the pop ula tion is natura ll y less
than it would have been if the rocks had been of
t he sa me nature as those derived from Galung-
g ung or Siamat or Merapi or Klut. The fol-
lowing districts illustrate this: Pamarayan 291 ,
Ra nkasbitung 173, Lebak 79, Parung kudjang
66, Tjilangkahan 47 a nd Tjibaliyung 20 - this
last being the lowest figure for Java.
The poverty of the soil in these last mentioned
districts is due partly to the fact that the bleached
Bantam tuffs are a lready primarily poor in plant
food, and partly to the climate. There is a yea rly
rainfall here of between 3 a nd 5 m a nd this leaches
the soil thoroughly. With StIch a rainfall the soil
must be very jllvenile to prod1ice enough food for the
population, a nd si nce there are few instances of
In general
100 mu ch rain water
Soil grows poorer soil grows poor in the long run; some
years there is drought
Irrigation to provide pIa,,' food
im possible possible
popula tion sparse population fairly population density medium
to very dense
( I) (2)
suc h juvenile soil in t he world , it is safe to say
that areas where heavy rain falls througil01tt the
yea1 are as a mle b1tt sparsely pop1llated. E ven
soil which was originally very rich, on the slopes
of a volcano for insta nce, must , under such
climatic circumstances, decrease in fertility so
grea tly, as soon as the virile stage is passed and
it has become more or less se nile, that the popu-
lation decreases t oo. The northern slopes of
the Dieng hig hla nds are a case in point : on these
slopes and adjacent to the very densely populated
lowla nds of Pekalongan (lvViradessa (979) ,
Pekalonga n (1486*), Batang (601 *), K edung-
wuni (929)) li e Doro with 142, Bandar with 246,
Bawang with 238, and th e yea rly rainfall there
is 3Y. to 7 m! The northern slopes of Tang-
kuban Prahu a lready menti oned in t he first
table show population density fig ures below 200
on acco unt ' of this same excessive rainfall.
We may say, then, that the above italicized
line may be expa nd ed as follows: Within certain
limits, the less rainfall the more fertile the soil and
the denser the population. This fertility is more
stable, less apt to be a passing ph ase. Naturally
MOAR: Soil and Population Density
thi s reduction of rainfa ll must not go too far.
I t must not Rroceed t o the point where there is
insufficient moisture for the food crops, so that
these might consequentl y suffer a nd fin all y die
from droug ht.
In order t o correct unfavo urabl e conditions
in regard t o wa t er s upply, th e c ulti vat or, in th e
present case th e na ti ve of the Netherla nd s Indies
a pplies irrigation. The table below will se rve
to make clearer the effects of this irriga tion :
Here we not e:
in (1) . There a re two reasons for the fact that
it is impossibl e to use irrigation as a mea ns for
providing the lacking food crops.
a. The la nd is convex in a ll directions co nsist-
ing of ridges and hill ocks, on which irrigation
water ca nnot be broug ht. For exa mpl es from
Bantam see above. Lime platea ux in South
Pria nger, na mely, Djampangkulon 64, Si ndan -
barang 42, Bungbulang 57, Pameung peuk 55 ,
Karangnunggal 88, Tjikatomas 92, Tjidjulang
79, fall under the same head . Also Tjilatjap
175, one of the lowest averages in Ce ntra l J ava,
and Panggul 139 in South Kedi ri as well as th e
Southeastern part of Genteng 111, a lmost un -
inhab ited.
b. Water ca n be brought up, but this water
itself comes from areas where the soil is poor
a nd th erefore it contai ns little plant food or none.
A case of this ki nd ha rdly ever occ urs in Java,
but in the Outer Provinces (Sumatra , Borneo
a nd New G uinea ) it is fairl y common . Con-
c1usion: irriga tion is useless.
In (2) . If irrigation is applied in a reas where
In ge neral In ge neral
s ufficient ra in water too lillie rain water
vegetation s uffers and finally dies
from drought
Irrigation to i,lSure Irrigation to provide wa ter
successful harves t
effect va ri able impossible possi ble
population sparse population dense
to very dense
(3) (4 ) (5 )
the soil is worn out and poor as a result of much
rainfa ll a nd th e water introd uced is derived from
young highlands (volcanic peaks), very great
s uccess is sometimes achieved . Insta nces of this
are: Buitenzorg 577 *, Sukabumi 562 *, Tasik-
malaya 637 *, Madyalengka 530*, etc.
In (3) . If the soil is already old and more or
less worn out, th e case is in line with tha t in-
dicated under (2) and then irrigation is certai nl y
beneficent, especia ll y as a means of suppl y ing
pla nt food, eve n when the rainfa ll is not ove r 4 m
a nnua ll y but abo ut 2 m. In regions where the
average yea rly rainfall is sufficient in th e lon g
run but an occasional year of drought has t o be
reckon ed with, irrigation is undo ubtedly a
blessing as a defense aga inst crop-fa ilure, in that
it ensures a satisfactory water supply anyhow.
These conditions are found in many districts
where the population density figures a re betwee n
250 and 450.
In (4). It is impossible to crea t e a water
supply where there simply is no wa t er avai la ble.
But this co ndi t ion of things is not found a ny-
where in Java. In the most arid parts of t he
MOHR: Soil and Population Density 258

island there is an average rainfall of 800 mm .
There are years occasionally when it is only 400
mm or even a little less, but these are exceptions.
Yet there are parts of Java in the extreme
North East of the island which cannot be ir-
rigated, or rather, where there is no irrigation
and where no rain falls for six, or sometimes
eight months. One of these is the Sumberwaru
district, where the population is 87 per km2, al-
though the soil would surely be fertile, if only
there were water. On the Small Sunda Islands
are areas of this character, which are more ar id
st ill and more thinly populated.
In (5). In cases where it is possible, thanks
less than 30% of the total area and the sawahs
less than 9%.
2. In all districts where the density of the
population is more than 800 the land under culti-
vation is more than 50 % of the tot I area and
the sawahs more than 40%.
3. Between the high figures there appear
also very low ones, a nd , contrariwise, high ones
occur among groups of low ones; this fact is ex-
plained by difference in soil types.
The comparatively low fig ures in the right-
hand upper section indicate that there agri-
cultural ret urns are small. This is due to the
fact that the soil is poor (Bantam) or bad (on ~ LAND UNDER CULTIVATION:

r
to high mountains in the hinterland, to bring marls), or else the irrigat ion is still insufficiently 10 " 20 PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SURFACE
irrigation water to a relative ly arid region where organised as in N.W. Batavia, for instance; al- ~s so 55
the soil is rich we find the greatest fe rtility. though the population has done the best it co uld ,
Along the North Coast of East Java, where the und er the circumstances. 9r
rainfall is less than l Y, metres, it is irrigation, The high figures found in the right-hand lower
a nd the very extensive c ultivation of sugar, section show that in those parts irrigation was 9.
which this has mad e feasible, which are respon- generally out of the question, as on the island Z
s ible for the density of the population in Pasuruan of Madura. The population was forced, by want, o as 19,
(656*), Probolinggo (710*), and Sitobondo (510*).
Back of these and at a s lightly higher a ltitude
to make use of every square foot of land . There
are no more forests, nor wood for fuel. The ~
~ 80
are districts which are not irrigable and which in people are partly dependent on salt-making and ~
spite of the fa ct that they get a little more rain , other industries for a living. They make what ~ 75
show a very much lower ave rage population they can out of growing maize. Manuring the ~?
It
density. There are: Tengger (Pas.) 149, Teng- ground is no use as the water supply is the
~ 70
ger (Prob.) 127, Gading 130, Pradjekan 115. minimum factor. Z
The population of the last na med is practically Where we find compa ratively high figures in :J
speaking all settled along the river Sampean. the left-hand lower section, that means that the o G5
Sugar-growing, which is economically de· districts concerned are situated in the lim e area Z
pendent on high yield of ca ne and high returns of the Gunung Sewu. It is difficult to layout ~ 60
Ii
of sugar, is chiefly restricted to areas falling rice fields there, as it is in Madura, but the lime- 0
under (5) with naturally rich, volcanic soils; and stone soil is not unfertile. Besides the popula- W 5S
because it in volves so much hand- labour, it ac- tion can, if need arises, migrate to the rich agri- \!J
centuates the population figures st ill further.
The topography of a district does the same,
in the sense, that much level ground increases
cultural lands of the Native States of Central
Java.
Where in the upper portion of the graph, be-
.~
~ ~5
Z
so

the average, whereas a rather hilly region tween 20 and 55%, several high figures are found W
Q,
decreases it, especially where large tracts among low ones then these apply to districts ~o
of this highland country are wooded and re- where the soil is fertile, but which include a large ;,;
0
served in the interests of irrigation. amount of forest reserve, which means that a com- oJ JS
All the various factors so far discussed com- paratively small a rea is under cultivation. Areas W
iL
bine to produce a striking correlation between where large tracts of highlands are occupied by ~ 30
the density of the population and the percentage European plantations, are also thinly populated
of the surface of a district, that is under cultiva- and show densities between 200 and 400. ct
tion; a nd , secondarily, how much of this has We see, then, that it is possible to trace and illS
been made into sawahs, i.e. wet rice fields. The point out the correlation between the density of w
graph on p . 259 shows the mutua l relation of the population in any given district and (a) the ~ 10 '1.,..
\!J • 87
these two factors in a considerable number of nature of the soil and (b) hydrographic conditions,
districts. The population figures are those (c) the resulting use of the soil and (d) the ii: IS
(t
quoted in the Census Returns for 1930. The agricultural returns. ,)'
percentages are from the tables given in the To go into the question of these returns in
Agricultural Atlas published by the Govern-
ment in 1926. The hyperbolic curves indicate
what percentage of the total area is occupied
by sawahs. Comparatively low figures are
marked by a square, hig h figur es by a circle.
detail would take us too far afield. Suffice it to
say the average yield of padi, when the harvest
is successful, ranges between 8Y, and 44 piculs
per bahu; a and that, since density of the popu-
lation depends on the amount of available food,
which, again, depends on the yield of the culti-
F
X
0
0 5 10 15 20
l:.- Ja JS ~o 'ts sp 5S 60 GS 70
~'o:1
75 80 es
The graph shows that vable land. i.e., the sawahs, these yie ld, fig ures LAND UNDER CULTIVATION:
PERCENTAGE OF THE 'roTAL SURFACE
90
•• 100

1. In all districts where the population is less must correlate with the different densities. Be-
than 100 per km2, the land under cultivation is low are fi gu res for a series of adjacent districts:
- FIGURE 72 (see p. 258)-

Padi yield Population Padi yield Population

Districts pieul per balm density Districts picul per bahu density

Pandeglang + Tjimanuk 3572 293 Modjoagung . 44 637

Menes 2872 136 Ploso 19 274
Parungkudjang 2172 66 Ngimbang (Mantup) 14 163

Burniaju 3572 441 Krian (+ Bulang) 3872 703

Madjenang 2372 149 Gunung Kendeng 15 412
 260 26 1 MOHR: Soil and Population Density
MOHR: Soil and population Density
basic. Hence the population figures for these EAST COAST OF SUMATRA WEST COAST OF SUMAT RA
We must be careful, however, in interpreting
these figures, as often possibilities for occupancy
volcanic areas may be expected to correspond
more nearly to those for Bantam tha n t o those
for the rest of Java. In the non-volcanic areas '"
u
." '"c
u '"c:
u
..
c
'"c:
u
exert a greater influence on the density of the
"'" ~] ~ b] ~
cc'" - '"
population than the differences in the yielding in Sumatra, where poor clayst ones, ' and still , '"
power of the soil.
poorer quartz sandstones constitute the greater Coastal "
<C-
I=l ......
.- ~
'en
~ ~ E
(J ~

.=" £
ct:;::: Sub-sections
just inland
Coastal
Sub-sections
"
~ ·o
'iii (J

Z ~!3
~
"s::'o
cc- Sub-sections
just inland
Sub-sections .- 00 .- 00
It would be difficult to point out districts in part of the parent material of the soil, the popu- .~ s:: "". t:.o.
I c:_ .~ ~ from coast .~ c 1 c:
"". t:.£l. _ .~ c from coast
Java where there is no volc~nic influence .at all. lation may be expected to be considerably less @0 0. c: " c: 0 c: 0 o. c: " " 0

Those in the Southern portIOn of the PrIangan dense. And so it is in fact . Striking examples u &::0 5
"u ~" ~:aa "u
.g
.::"
'0
Residencies and those North of the Salatiga- of this are to be found both along the East coast
'0
> u" '0
> U >
(a) .S (b) (a) (b )
Modjokerto line approach ~ost ne':lrly t o .t his a nd the w.est coast of the island. --- - --
condition. In the form er, which are tn a t ertiary In the form er lies Mt. M erapi, which had sev- Natal - 8
marl and limestone area, the density remains eral v iolent eruptions a century ago a nd has Tam ia ng - 17 Ophir + 14
less than 100; in the latter, which include many since ejected a considerable a mount of fairly Lower-Langka t + 34 Manindjau ++ 72
teak forests on rid ges of calcareous rock and basic ash in numerous lesser eruptions. The 52- 48 ++ Upper-Langkat 2.17-220 +++ Old-Agam
marl, the averages r~nge between 130 and 300. sub-section in which the soil profited most by Lower-D eli +++ 208- 139 169 +++ Fort v/ d. Capellen
These fi gures never rIse t o the level of those for this action is Oud-Agam (in which Fort de Kock 84 +++ Upper-Deli Pariaman ++ 169

better volcanic areas; on the other hand only is situated), where the population density in
Serd a ng ++ 86 152-132 ++ Padangpandjang
1930 was 237, or not counting the ca pital, 220 -
Pada ng-Bedage i + 79-69 Padang + 204- 139
volcariic regions where soil has already become Batubahra + 57 99-94 + Solok
senile all over show fi gures as low as 300 or less. the highest figure in the whole of Sumatra. The 66-62 + Sime) ungun Painan + 38
Fort van der Capellen sub-section, to the South Asaha n + 36-35 13 + Muaralabu
2. THE SMALL SUNDA ISLANDS. Bali East of Mt. Merapi, also shared the beneficent Lab ua nbat u - 14 Kerintji ++ 18
and L ombok. It would be too soon to apply the influence of this volca no on the soil and there Bagan Si Api-api - 4 .5-2 . 1 9 - Muarabungo
standard for Java to these two I slands. For the density is 169. T o the North East is Suliki Muko·muko 5
organised European Government, which J ava with 92 and Pajakumboh with 48. Beyond these
has known for several centuries, was introduced sub-sections the influence is no longer disce rnible
on these islands less than half a century ago. and we find Bankinang with 18, Kamparkiri whehredthehrefore the SOIl IS more worn-out and ~~hf~t i~ ~~e ridges jufst menti<?ned include some
dIeac .e ' f as no su b -sectIOn. .
With a n average . e course 0 weatherIng p d I
The standard t o be a pplied is that of the Outer with 2.7 and Siak with 0.9, the soil getting more
e n ~ lt y 0 more than 90. If we look at th luvlal deposit rather better t han ~~ uce an a -
Provinces, and accord ing to that Bali and Lom-
bok fall into the class of the most densely popu-
and more exhausted and the inhabitants fewer
and fewer, those that are left having settled ex-
~entnsula. of sout~western Celebes and rega rd Con~eque.ntly ~ultivating rice can b: ~:dagte.
~a':::ed U£lt, w\see tn t~e So uth the grea t volcano pay tn
and 35'thiS region . Th e Yle . Id ranges between e 110
lated areas, thanks to the predominant influence clusively along the river banks sur rounded by
of yo ung volcanoes a nd excellent irrigatio n. The M om po ata ng, tn the ce ntral region from Plc'IP' Jba hu , t.he average being 201{ pic
a n almost uninha bited country. . a h u. n ava thiS
sub-section of Gianjar has more than 450; the The following table presents two series of sub - N~:~h ~~ PTre-~~re basic I.e u c~te rock, and in the be b5 pic
P h' h . '
72
average would certainly
•

figures for the other southern sub-sect!ons range
between roughly 190 and 380; according to the
a mount of sparsely populated, wooded highlands
or arid limestone tracts they include. The
Northern portion is very much affected by the
very dry East monsoon; owing to the fact that
for six months of the year there is no rain, the
popula tion density is only just above 100.
We may say that in general during the East
monsoon the northern slopes of the Small Sunda
Islands suffer from drought without any chance
of irrigation worth mentioning; with the result
that the population is less dense here than on the
southern slopes, even in cases where the soil is
derived from exactly the same parent material.
The Small Sunda Islands lying directly East-
ward of Bali and Lombok are all much less
densely populated, but then for the most part
they have not the same favourable young vol-
canic soil or the same irrigation possibilities.
They lack proper lowland tracts. There is not
a single volcano in Sumba, Rotti or Timor. The
population density ranges between 73 in Mau-
mere (Flores), which is very dry but possesses
young volcanoes, and less than 10 - the mini-
mum _ as in the almost desert wastes of lime-
stone country in East Sumba.
3. SUMATRA's soil is very different from
that found in Java. There is ha rdly a spot in
Java where young volcanic influence is not pres-
ent to some degree; the soil in Sumatra is for the
most part much older and th e recent vulcanism
so common in J ava only occurs here at three or
four poi nts, to be specific - the southern portion
of the Lampongs, the highlands on the border
of Pa lemba ng a nd Benkulen, the Pada ng High-
lands and the Batak country. Nor is recent
vulcanism as it occurs in Sumatra the sa me as
th at of J ava; for as a rule more acid effusiva ca me
to the surface here and onl y very little of the
'1 picul = ,....., 5/8 q uintal. and 1 bahu
sections (a) along the coast a nd (b) just inland
e ora Ja volcal1lc highlands. For this in the' Ig er , tn ~om e parts of East J ava, and
from this. If the soil were equally good or equally f:~b~~t a7thole the population density average d bl d Padang Highland s we sho uld find it
ou e .
bad in all of them they would probably not vary The rest of the South an d East D' .. .
f:~~e;r~o;~~~;e~~~~r~!I~~:,b1~~~::fi;ii~£IE~r~
For the Minahasa the hi hi I .
greatly in population density. As it is the in- very sp I I IVlSlOn IS
fluence of recent volcanism is plainly apparent. siderati~~set~ePsouPbu da.t e~: If whe leave out of con-
. - IVlslon were th I
We might enumerate all the divisions and
sub-sections in Sumatra and we should find that
thl-average de~slty IS less than 5 inh. p . km2 h~bft~nan~ oil wells, there are 515,Og~e s';;~lscf~_
E he populatIOn of this island has been u .d d 't g good 360,000 km2, which mea ns a
almost in every case the comparative density or
otherwise of the population could be accounted thi~o~::~Ju.l: ~r a~out
d I
thirty years and
as tncreased considerabl N
du~i~; ensl y of 1.4: Extensive forests and fields f
grass vegetatIOn cover the m . .0
le~~~\t~~\~ro~vth a~
for by the nature of the soil, and especially by plains a nd marshes All th O ounta ms, . hills,
the presence or absence of recent volcanic in- will . continue for a \J'hile cultivated Th . . .IS country IS un-
i~ ~en:N;~~~: ~~ ~~~e
fluence . Yet there are exceptions, besides of ere bank f t'h . e populatIOn hves only along the
soil good ci;:f:edvr the so e flvers.
cent volcal1lc material will b~ relativel;o:;: re
course such cities as Palembang, which is greatly
affected by commerce and shipping interests. h
grea ter than that in areas where the '1' uc
~;~~~sawhich
6. Among THE MOLU CCAS
There is Kerintji, for instance, which is not suf-
ficiently densely populated for a sub-section with
poor that th e I' . SOl IS so
grea test difficultyP:~\v~e;t~~fvi~;ef~~i~e the
lar~ partly. or entirel~h~~ic~~~ca
popu atlOn which ma b II d '
!~d
a fine volcano in it. We may reasonably expect paratively plentiful Th y e f.a e com-
~ifea~~:t ~~2v:fi~u8r~; ~i~dve~fieve.
(7~~ Te~n~~~ (~~f
that its density average of 18 will rise in the 5. In BORNEO there' t .
course of time especially since the country has and active volcano. vVe 1~:yO th slfngle young
been opened up during the last decades by means to find the avera d ' ere ore expect
of new trunk roads. The fact that on the East lower than it is i~e eithnslt~ of the population
In point. of fact the figu~~ fo~mD~~~hoB Celebes.
k 7. Finally we come to NEW GUINEA W
coast the averages mentioned are less than on
the West coast is accounted for the prevalence a whole IS 4 I th \V .. . orneo as
10nnO\~ of no ~oung volcanoes in the secti~n be~
in the former region of European plantations we find Sin 'k n e est,olvlslon (average 5)/,) aregf~ g to t e N~ therl a nds. Old volcanic rocks
occupying large tracts of tobacco and rubber But th ~ awa.ng ~howtng an average of 16)/, soil a~n10~Pto~adlcally. The p.arent rocks of the
land, whereas in the latter we find chiefly native ence th:~~ ~~~:!~I;~tIO~ has disclosed th e pres~ and older ; th: 7e~~~i~art de~lmentary, tertiary
rice fields. material of the soil p~tnt:. of o~d hvolcanic ,Parent North coast and the S~~th Ees~ areas are the
4. In CELEBES co nditions are very largely
this; hence its figur~ is ~n
have non e at all and h '
It:
as but h.t tl e of
e apa ng a nd Stntang
plains we find h
This I '
as coast . In the
ehavy but not really fertile clay
the same as in Sumatra. There too we find rise above about 2y,ereffhe l1!Sver a nd nowhere popul=~i~ atnJ wythe average density ~f th~
Division of Borneo (~~
n oes not exceed anywhere 2 th
yo ung volcanic areas, na mely in southwestern
Celebes, in the Mina hasa and also in the Toradja
e outh and East
a rea t.ha t is better tha~rate 3)/,) includes one O~7e;.age (not counting the smaller islands) bei n;
country. The best of these three as far as soil S unge l with a density of ~7e r~t, .na mely Ulu
ll~die: ~r~l~~~la~~r
goes is southwestern Celebes a nd there we con- ~onsoon ;this region is in th ~mnhg the East To sum up, then we might t t
the U;llOfe of the N;therlands
h
sequently find the population density risin g rIdge of m ' e ratn -S ad ow of a
above 100 in several sub -sections, na mely, Pang- fo~r ridgesOr~~t~!~: ~~~~~~, at~eNrieEs of tdhrhee or d
an Thn act for the tropics in ge neral, as follows:
soil e rIc.h er fhe rocks, or parent material of th~
kadjene, Goa, T aka lar, Djeneponto and Bon- enJ oys . a d e fi l1lte
. Iy dry season
.
taeng. It is noteworthy, that these are the - . .h'anh . ence win' b~e 11 ~ a nt-~<?od, the mme fertile the soil
exceptIO n on this island A w IC IS. an
regions where the East monsoon lasts longest a nd less leached a nd mor e f'er t I'le.
s a Fresult the so t!thIS are th e' v n ~me lary to baSIC volcanic rocks
is driest. T he South East coast (Bulokomba, urth ermore e ery est; next tn order come the more
Sindj ai and Wadjo) which gets more rain and
=,....., 7/ 1 0 ha.
 MOHR: Soil and Population Density
acid rocks ; then limestone with admixtures; then
marls, which often produce chemically rich but
physically unmanageable, heavy clay; a nd fi-
nally quartz sandst one that makes only poor
soil. . in view of the nature of their soil. One suspects
The more disintegrated the rock materia l be-
fore subjected to chemical weathering, the more
quickly it is tra nsfor med into soil - rich soil.
In this respect there is nothing so good as vol-
ca nic ash. Solid and compact rocks weather
slowly.
H eavy ra infall at a high temperature not o nly
wets the soil but leaches it out as well. If the
latter forms slowly, it is leached out th.e moment
it is formed and is therefore poor. It is on ly
where the weathering t a kes place quickly and
the soil is formed rapidly that rich, fertile soil as date it showed remarkable signs of new life both
a temporary phase teven if this lasts for seve ral
centuries) is possible in the tropics. H ence, only
on volca nic ash, sa nd or tuff. In the course of
time even such soil becomes impoverished by
leaching.
A dry monsoon retards leachi ng a nd impover-
ishment; little rainfall does this even more.
Fertility depends then on whether or not it is
possible to irrigate. Where irrigation ca n be
achieved, the maximum fertility can be ob-
tained. The fertility is enhanced by plenty of
sunshine and warmth .
T he Net herlands Indies demonstrates all this
with its population figures ranging from 0 to
more than 1600 souls per km2 • Java has the
highest averages, East J ava a nd Ce ntra l J ava
showing relatively higher figures than West Java,
which possesses fewer active volcanoes and a
higher rainfall. East Java, Bali, Lo mbok a nd
even S.W. Celebes sho uld be grouped together
as possessing ma ny cha racte ristics in common.
Sumbawa a nd Flores fall o ut of line somewhat.
We may t herefore perhaps expect that these
isla nds will be a ble to develop co nsidera bly in
the future, if and when reforestation of the hills
and irrigation of the plains have bee n success- . t he fatt rema ins that in the Netherlands Indies the
fully carried out. The Minahasa, too, will be
able to support a large r population in the course
of time. The sub-sections of Tobelo and Dja ilolo volcanoes.
262
on the isla nd of Halma heira and also Ternate,
a ll three possessing young volcanic soil and hav-
ing a n average population density of 4.4 - 11.9
a nd 31.6 respectively, are too thinly populated
that this is due t o the bad health prevalent
a mong the people. As hygienic conditions im-
prove, the plains are better drained, and re-
forestat ion proceeds in the hig hla nds, a nd so
forth, this part of the Moluccas will be able to
offer a living to a la rge r population, though it
may never become a seco nd Bali.
What one volca nic eruption can acco mplish
may be see n in the Lampongs (S. Sumatra).
Before 1883 (eruption of Krakatau !) this was a
poor country without much vitality; after that
in regard to na tive a nd European agriculture.
Agriculturally speaking Madura is. on the
borderline of overpopulation. In that island the
salt industry must be depended on to keep the
population a live and every yea r migrations to
J ava are necessa ry, just as the people are forced
by ci rcumstances t o migrate to Burma from ce r-
tain parts of British India. The Madurese do
not migrate to Borneo, Central-Celebes, Ceram
or New Guinea, however, for, to put it bluntly,
this \yo uld not pay. It co uld only pay if one of
two things happened. Either a volcano would
have to suddenly become active in those regions
a nd cover the la nd far and wide with a fertil e
layer of ashes; or the cultura l sta ndard would
have to rise to such a degree that these co un tries
came to occupy the same agr icultural level as,
for instance, the Netherlands, where the poorest
soil ca n be made ferti le by the use of mineral
ferti lisers or manure of home or foreign manu-
fact ure, a nd where a ll the best agricul t ural
methods are applied . But these a re dreams that
could only be realised in a far distant future-
perhaps they are not realisable at a ll. For th e
present, then, a nd for ma ny a long year to come,
poplllation density is a flt1!ction of the natllYe of the
soil, and this is a fmtction of the presence of active