Soil grows poorer soil grows poor in the long run; some vegetation s uffers and finally dies
years there is drought from drought
popula tion sparse population fairly population density medium population sparse population dense
to very dense to very dense
( I) (2) (3) (4 ) (5 )
INDI~cHE
suc h juvenile soil in t he world , it is safe to say the soil is worn out and poor as a result of much
that areas where heavy rain falls througil01tt the rainfa ll a nd th e water introd uced is derived from
yea1 are as a mle b1tt sparsely pop1llated. E ven young highlands (volcanic peaks), very great
soil which was originally very rich, on the slopes s uccess is sometimes achieved . Insta nces of this
_ F IGURE 71 (see p. 256)-
of a volcano for insta nce, must , under such are: Buitenzorg 577 *, Sukabumi 562 *, Tasik-
climatic circumstances, decrease in fertility so malaya 637 *, Madyalengka 530*, etc.
grea tly, as soon as the virile stage is passed and In (3) . If the soil is already old and more or
it has become more or less se nile, that the popu- less worn out, th e case is in line with tha t in-
Typica l too in thi s connection is the co urse of lation decreases t oo. The northern slopes of dicated under (2) and then irrigation is certai nl y
th e Progo to the So uth the Opak, t o th e East the river 'Bra;l las, especially there. where, near
the Denk~ng and Solo rive rs. T o the No~th the Dieng hig hla nds are a case in point : on these beneficent, especia ll y as a means of suppl y ing
Blitar, the ejecta from Klut enter ItS. waters, .to slopes and adjacent to the very densely populated pla nt food, eve n when the rainfa ll is not ove r 4 m
t here is none. And now for t he comparative be sorted or mixed a nd then. depos ited aga ll1 .
density of the population (see Fig. 71). lowla nds of Pekalongan (lvViradessa (979) , a nnua ll y but abo ut 2 m. In regions where the
The ex tensive higher portIOns of Sn;ngat, Pekalonga n (1486*), Batang (601 *), K edung- average yea rly rainfall is sufficient in th e lon g
To the South a nd South W est, where the Ngadi luweh and Paree a re as yet too a nd on
yo ungest sa nd and block strea ms came w~ see a wuni (929)) li e Doro with 142, Bandar with 246, run but an occasional year of drought has t o be
acco unt of excessive sa nd , gravel a nd stones to Bawang with 238, and th e yea rly rainfall there reckon ed with, irrigation is undo ubtedly a
density ra nging betwee n 543 and 653 (1), more bring the ave rage higher tha n abo ut 400. Along
to the South on the allu via l soil, from 800 to is 3Y. to 7 m! The northern slopes of Tang- blessing as a defense aga inst crop-fa ilure, in that
t he Brantas the fi gure is higher (Tulung Agung kuban Prahu a lready menti oned in t he first it ensures a satisfactory water supply anyhow.
900' westwards from here, across the Progo (770*),' Ked iri (490*), but then come Pa p: r table show population density fig ures below 200
va ll~y , 378 to 500, and t hen a long the coast the (610)' Wa rudj ajeng (72 1) ; Kertosono (609. ),
These conditions are found in many districts
on acco unt ' of this same excessive rainfall. where the population density figures a re betwee n
fi gures rise once more. On th e east ern slopes D' on;bang (672*), Mod joagung (637); ModJ ~ We may say, then, that the above italicized 250 and 450.
t he density is 600, a bove these 400 a nd on th e k~rto (556*), Krian (703) , Taman (617), SI- line may be expa nd ed as follows: Within certain
saddle betwee n Merapi a nd ]\II erba~ u , where In (4). It is impossible to crea t e a water
there is extensive forest reserve which more- , An asterisk means that. as mentioned bef?r~. the ~g~{~
limits, the less rainfall the more fertile the soil and supply where there simply is no wa t er avai la ble.
over t he yo ungest ashes did not reach , only 245. in Question has been arri ved a.t after the Pd9Pu.a~Hhn a n be~n the denser the population. This fertility is more But this co ndi t ion of things is not found a ny-
At th e foot th e figures rise to 800 or even to area of the (main lown) cap it al of the lstnc ave stable, less apt to be a passing ph ase. Naturally where in Java. In the most arid parts of t he
subtracted from the total popula tion and the total area.
more than 1000 (Kia ten , the ce ntre of the to-
MOHR: Soil and Population Density 258
island there is an average rainfall of 800 mm . less than 30% of the total area and the sawahs
There are years occasionally when it is only 400 less than 9%.
mm or even a little less, but these are exceptions. 2. In all districts where the density of the
Yet there are parts of Java in the extreme population is more than 800 the land under culti-
North East of the island which cannot be ir- vation is more than 50 % of the tot I area and
rigated, or rather, where there is no irrigation the sawahs more than 40%.
and where no rain falls for six, or sometimes 3. Between the high figures there appear
eight months. One of these is the Sumberwaru also very low ones, a nd , contrariwise, high ones
district, where the population is 87 per km2, al- occur among groups of low ones; this fact is ex-
though the soil would surely be fertile, if only plained by difference in soil types.
there were water. On the Small Sunda Islands The comparatively low fig ures in the right-
are areas of this character, which are more ar id hand upper section indicate that there agri-
st ill and more thinly populated. cultural ret urns are small. This is due to the
In (5). In cases where it is possible, thanks 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)-
.=" £
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 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
between roughly 190 and 380; according to the 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
a mount of sparsely populated, wooded highlands 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~
or arid limestone tracts they include. The For the Minahasa the hi hi I .
greatly in population density. As it is the in- very sp I I IVlSlOn IS
Northern portion is very much affected by the fluence of recent volcanism is plainly apparent. siderati~~set~ePsouPbu da.t e~: If whe leave out of con-
. - IVlslon were th I
very dry East monsoon; owing to the fact that
for six months of the year there is no rain, the
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
popula tion density is only just above 100.
We may say that in general during the East
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~
monsoon the northern slopes of the Small Sunda for by the nature of the soil, and especially by plains a nd marshes All th O ounta ms, . hills,
Islands suffer from drought without any chance the presence or absence of recent volcanic in- will . continue for a \J'hile cultivated Th . . .IS country IS un-
i~ ~en:N;~~~: ~~ ~~~e
of irrigation worth mentioning; with the result 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
that the population is less dense here than on the course such cities as Palembang, which is greatly
southern slopes, even in cases where the soil is affected by commerce and shipping interests. h
grea ter than that in areas where the '1' uc
~;~~~sawhich
6. Among THE MOLU CCAS
derived from exactly the same parent material.
The Small Sunda Islands lying directly East-
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
ward of Bali and Lombok are all much less 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
densely populated, but then for the most part that its density average of 18 will rise in the 5. In BORNEO there' t .
they have not the same favourable young vol- course of time especially since the country has and active volcano. vVe 1~:yO th slfngle young
canic soil or the same irrigation possibilities. been opened up during the last decades by means to find the avera d ' ere ore expect
They lack proper lowland tracts. There is not 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
a single volcano in Sumba, Rotti or Timor. The
population density ranges between 73 in Mau-
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~
mere (Flores), which is very dry but possesses 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
young volcanoes, and less than 10 - the mini- 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
mum _ as in the almost desert wastes of lime- 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
stone country in East Sumba. rice fields. material of the soil p~tnt:. of o~d hvolcanic ,Parent North coast and the S~~th Ees~ areas are the
3. SUMATRA's soil is very different from 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
that found in Java. There is ha rdly a spot in 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 (~~
Java where young volcanic influence is not pres- n oes not exceed anywhere 2 th
ent to some degree; the soil in Sumatra is for the
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;
most part much older and th e recent vulcanism 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
so common in J ava only occurs here at three or
four poi nts, to be specific - the southern portion
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
of the Lampongs, the highlands on the border
of Pa lemba ng a nd Benkulen, the Pada ng High-
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
.
lands and the Batak country. Nor is recent 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
vulcanism as it occurs in Sumatra the sa me as 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
th at of J ava; for as a rule more acid effusiva ca me is driest. T he South East coast (Bulokomba, urth ermore e ery est; next tn order come the more
to the surface here and onl y very little of the Sindj ai and Wadjo) which gets more rain and
'1 picul = ,....., 5/8 q uintal. and 1 bahu =,....., 7/ 1 0 ha.
MOHR: Soil and Population Density 262
acid rocks ; then limestone with admixtures; then on the isla nd of Halma heira and also Ternate,
marls, which often produce chemically rich but a ll three possessing young volcanic soil and hav-
physically unmanageable, heavy clay; a nd fi- ing a n average population density of 4.4 - 11.9
nally quartz sandst one that makes only poor a nd 31.6 respectively, are too thinly populated
soil. . in view of the nature of their soil. One suspects
The more disintegrated the rock materia l be- that this is due t o the bad health prevalent
fore subjected to chemical weathering, the more a mong the people. As hygienic conditions im-
quickly it is tra nsfor med into soil - rich soil. prove, the plains are better drained, and re-
In this respect there is nothing so good as vol- forestat ion proceeds in the hig hla nds, a nd so
ca nic ash. Solid and compact rocks weather forth, this part of the Moluccas will be able to
slowly. offer a living to a la rge r population, though it
H eavy ra infall at a high temperature not o nly may never become a seco nd Bali.
wets the soil but leaches it out as well. If the What one volca nic eruption can acco mplish
latter forms slowly, it is leached out th.e moment may be see n in the Lampongs (S. Sumatra).
it is formed and is therefore poor. It is on ly Before 1883 (eruption of Krakatau !) this was a
where the weathering t a kes place quickly and poor country without much vitality; after that
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 in regard to na tive a nd European agriculture.
centuries) is possible in the tropics. H ence, only Agriculturally speaking Madura is. on the
on volca nic ash, sa nd or tuff. In the course of borderline of overpopulation. In that island the
time even such soil becomes impoverished by salt industry must be depended on to keep the
leaching. population a live and every yea r migrations to
A dry monsoon retards leachi ng a nd impover- J ava are necessa ry, just as the people are forced
ishment; little rainfall does this even more. by ci rcumstances t o migrate to Burma from ce r-
Fertility depends then on whether or not it is tain parts of British India. The Madurese do
possible to irrigate. Where irrigation ca n be not migrate to Borneo, Central-Celebes, Ceram
achieved, the maximum fertility can be ob- or New Guinea, however, for, to put it bluntly,
tained. The fertility is enhanced by plenty of this \yo uld not pay. It co uld only pay if one of
sunshine and warmth . two things happened. Either a volcano would
T he Net herlands Indies demonstrates all this have to suddenly become active in those regions
with its population figures ranging from 0 to a nd cover the la nd far and wide with a fertil e
more than 1600 souls per km2 • Java has the layer of ashes; or the cultura l sta ndard would
highest averages, East J ava a nd Ce ntra l J ava have to rise to such a degree that these co un tries
showing relatively higher figures than West Java, came to occupy the same agr icultural level as,
which possesses fewer active volcanoes and a for instance, the Netherlands, where the poorest
higher rainfall. East Java, Bali, Lo mbok a nd soil ca n be made ferti le by the use of mineral
even S.W. Celebes sho uld be grouped together ferti lisers or manure of home or foreign manu-
as possessing ma ny cha racte ristics in common. fact ure, a nd where a ll the best agricul t ural
Sumbawa a nd Flores fall o ut of line somewhat. methods are applied . But these a re dreams that
We may t herefore perhaps expect that these could only be realised in a far distant future-
isla nds will be a ble to develop co nsidera bly in perhaps they are not realisable at a ll. For th e
the future, if and when reforestation of the hills present, then, a nd for ma ny a long year to come,
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 poplllation density is a flt1!ction of the natllYe of the
able to support a large r population in the course soil, and this is a fmtction of the presence of active
of time. The sub-sections of Tobelo and Dja ilolo volcanoes.