CLIMATE AND SOIL IN THE NETHERLANDS INDIES

By Dr. E. C.

J.

MoHR

Points on which the Netherlands Indies differ intrinsically

from both Europe and the United States of America are climate
and soil. To say that the Netherlands Indies are located in the
tropics, is to put the case too vaguely. This expression - the
tropics - covers the whole broad belt between the tropics
of Cancer and Capricorn, or between 23 N. lat. and 23 S. lat.
But within this vast belt itself great differences of climate
are found and the strip between ro 0 N. lat. and roo S. lat.,
within which the Indies lie, is quite distinct from the regions
flanking it on either side and may be appropriately called the
tropical zone in a special sense. The fact that the Indies do not
form part of a continent, but are a group of islands, accentuates
this tropical character very greatly, particularly as regards
rainfall.
The first thing to realize is that in the Netherlands Indies the
seasons do not vary in the same way as they do in Europe.
For instance, in those regions there is no summer, when days
are long and nights short, to be followed by winter in which
the converse is true. Apart from a small variation of about
twenty minutes at the extreme North and extreme South of
the archipelago, the days and nights all over the Indies are
each about twelve hours long all the year round. As in this region
of the earth the sun in its daily course ascends and descends
almost perpendicularly to the horizon, the periods of dawn
and dusk are always short.
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and shines for the same length of time, or very nearly, it is

clear that the daily variations of temperature will be practically
the same at every point in the archipelago. Particularly hot or
particularly cold days differ but a few degrees from the average.
But curiously enough it seems to be the very slightness of this
variation which makes human beings so sensitive to such changes
of temperature as do occur. As a matter of fact, in the Netherlands
Indies the thermometer very seldom registers what one thinks
of as tropical heat, but then we must reflect that temperature
is but one of several factors in respect to atmospheric conditions
as affecting the human senses. The maximum temperature at
sea-level hardly ever exceeds 33 Centigrade there, while in Europe
or the U.S.A. it often reaches 38 or 40 C., and in Arabia and
Southern Persia even 45 or 50 C. On the other hand the
temperature at night shows a smaller drop inside the zone
referred to than outside it, and seldom falls below 23 or perhaps
2r C. The daily margin being so slight and the temperature
moving practically between the same limits every day, it is
small wonder that even at the depth of only one metre the
soil shows no variation in temperature at all, remaining constant
at 25 or 26 C. (at sea level). In Europe a constant soil-temperature could only be expected at about ten times this depth.
There are large stretches of low-lying, fiat country in the
Netherlands Indies, but the archipelago also includes highlands
where considerable altitudes are reached. The higher one goes,
the cooler it gets. Every r6o metres makes a difference of r C.;
at a height of r6oo meters, or almost 5000 feet, the average
temperature is, therefore, r5o to r6 C., rising to perhaps 2r 0
or 22 C. in the course of the day and dropping at night to roo
or n 9 C. - a delightful climate, this, as regards temperature;
one in which we humans can enjoy life and feel perfectly comfortable. At 2400 meters the average temperature is about roo C.
This same figure is well known as the mean annual temperature
of many places in Western Europe, but it would be a mistake
to conclude from this fact that therefore a community of
Europeans would find equally appropriate conditions for living
in both regions. For though the average temperature is the
same in both, there is one great difference which must not be
forgotten. In Western Europe the average winter temperature
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tropics the temperature in these seasons varies hardly ro instead

of 20 C., which, for the people who live there, mea-ns what
Ernst Haeckel, the great German biologist of the nineteenth
century, called "the everlasting sameness", and which certainly
does not produce a stimulating effect on the human organism
- not to mention such extremely important factors as the
influence of a practically constant temperature on the vegetation
itself and on the activities of micro-organisms in the soil. The
only variation the weather undergoes is due to changes of moisture,
cloudiness or rainfall. And these changes may be traced to one
of two causes, one local in origin, the other general.
The local cause usually arises on or near the slopes of high
mountains or mountain ranges in the various islands. During the
morning hours the sun shines on these and on the coastal areas
and warms them more than it does the adjacent sea. The air above
the land also gets warmer than that which is above the water;
it becomes lighter, rises and is replaced by air coming in from
the sea. This movement causes a- current of very damp air
flowing from the sea to the mountain slopes; as it rises, the air
cools, the vapour condenses to form heavy cumulous clouds
and heavy rain, often accompanied by a sharp thunder-storm,
until during the afternoon equilibrium is established once more.
Towards sundown and during the night, the land gets cooler
than the sea. Consequently the cooler air from the mountains
descends to the sea and thereby becomes slightly warmer again,
while remaining clear under the clear, starlit sky. Next day
the same series of changes recurs - clear morning, then clouds,
rain, clear weather once more; unless, indeed, monsoon winds
produce a change in the usual sequence.
These monsoon winds are not local in origin and constitute
the general cause referred to above. They arise in the following
manner: In June the sun is far to the North. At this season it
is hot in Southern Asia and comparatively cold in Australia.
Over Asia cyclonic conditions prevail, in other words, in S.E.
Asia the prevailing wind is from the S.W.; this changes its
course and becomes South Easterly in so far as it comes from
South of the equator in the Netherlands Indies. Over Australia
an anti-cyclonic condition prevails, causing a South East wind
across Northern Australia, which arrives in the Netherlands

blows from May to September, or even a little longer, especially

in the Southern portion of the archipelago. The further North
or West it gets, the less strongly it is felt.
In December the sun stands far to the South, above the
central part of Australia. This means that the cyclone is now
there, and that consequently the prevailing wind blowing across
Northern Australia and South of the archipelago is from South
West to West. At this season it is cold in Asia, which fact causes
a North East wind that, on crossing the equator, turns into
a North West wind. This wind is noted everywhere throughout
the Indies as a wet monsoon, especially when it blows conjointly
with the South Westerly Ocean breeze caused by Australia.
Wherever it meets highland country or mountains on its course,
it causes heavy rains, especially on the West coast of Sumatra,
in Java, Borneo and Celebes.
Rain or dry weather in the plains is a matter depending chiefly on
the dry monsoon; but on the sides of the mountains the rainfall
is only increased or decreased by this wind. Hence there are
regions where it rains practically every day of the year, because
the dry monsoon does not penetrate there. The portion of Sumatra
near the equator, almost the whole of Borneo and large portions
of New Guinea are cases in point; on the other hand we find
regions, such as the Northern coastal part of East Java and the
Small Sunda Islands, where the East monsoon is very dry and
lasts very long. Between these two extremes are all sorts of
intermediate conditions. But there is hardly a spot in the whole
of the Netherlands Indies where it does not rain hard for at
least three or four months of the year.
The heavy rainfall of between I to 7 metres per year, which
is particularly characteristic of these tropical areas, strongly
affects the soil and consequently the vegetation. For the
abundance of rain-water not only wets the soil, but most distinctly
leaches it at the same time. All substances that are soluble
in water, however slight the solubility may be, are dissolved
in the long run and finally carried away into the depths of the
earth to springs, and thence to rivers and to the sea. This process
Also takes place in the very damp portions of the temperate

the rainfall is .-less, and secondly because the temperature is

lower - ~ c.Ircumsta~ce .which greatly decreases solubility.
A very Sigmficant pomt IS the fact that among these soluble
substances are those which serve to feed the vegetation H
~
th
.
. ~~
. m~y say
at m all tropical regions the soil is constantly
bei~g Impoverished, is everywhere tending to a final condition
:nhich would make all vegetable growth impossible, because
It would mean that plant food was entirely lacking. Fortunately
there are a number of factors which greatly, in some cases very
1greatly,
1 retard the
. process towards this fatal end , or even very
arge y prevent Its accomplishment. Human welfare demands
that . we should know exactly what these factors are and if
possible, learn to promote their action
'
. It is obvious that leaching decreases ~ith the rainfall. Hence
m areas ':here the ~ry East monsoon is felt, the soil is generally
comparat~vely fertile, ~nd what is more, retains its fertility
comp~r~~Ive~y long. This rule applies all over the globe. All
old CIVIhzati~ns which have been able to hold their own for
many centunes have had little rain. Cases in point are Mexico
Peru, . Carthage, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia India Chi~a
The most highl! developed cultures that have ;ppeared in th~
~etherland In~Ies .flourished in Middle Java, East Java, and the
Islands of. Bah and Lombok, that is, in areas where the total
yearly ramfall was not more than two metres and the East
monsoon was strongly felt .
T:h~ lower the temperature, the less intensive the leaching
IS IS .why often the leaching of the soil on the sides of th~
mountams and on the plateaux is less advanced than at the
foot
.
1 of
h 1the mountains and in the lowlands Thi's companson
o.n ~ o d: good when the areas compared have an equal and
Similar ramfall. Examples drawn from the Netherlands Indies
are sel~om really telling, because the rains that fall there on
mo~ntam slopes at high altitudes are often very heavy. In such
regwns the greater quantity of rain-water compensates the
lower temperature.
- ~s er.uptive rocks di~integrate and decompose, soil is produced.
T;Is sOil ~lways contams clay and this clay possesses the faculty
o abs?rbmg plant-food from the water circulating in the soil
and discharges
it v ery sow
1 1Y Th'IS absorption
.

.
counteracts
the'
1eachmg process and retards it. Humus performs a more or less

similar function. Soil rich in clay and . humus impoverishes

slowly; quartz-sandy soil impoverishes quickly. Luckily t~e
rocks in Java do not contain much quartz and hence there 1s
little quartz-sand in the soil there, but in many parts of Sumat~a,
Borneo, Celebes and New Guinea the soil is rich in that stenle
mineral, quartz. This same is true of the Congo and many parts
of Europe and America.
In the tropics humus is always at a disadvantage, for the
higher the temperature, the greater the rate at w~ch the hum~s
is decomposed and mineralized, whenever m01sture and . ~1r
are plentiful. For this reason the soil in low-lying areas contams
relatively little humus, particularly where forests have been
absent for a long period of time. The higher we go, the cool~r
it is the richer the soil is in humus. Hence it is on the mountam
slop~s that the flourishing tea and cinchona plantations are
to be found; the best are on newly cleared forest-land.
In the tropics rain almost always comes down in t~e form
of a sudden downpour such as in Europe would certamly be
termed a cloud-burst. This type of rain-storm produces another
effect on the soil besides the chemical leaching described above,
namely, mechanical surface washing, or erosion. Whe~ever the
ground slopes even slightly, the rain-wa~er,. strea~mg down
swiftly over its surface, carries away s01l, m particular the
valuable top-soil containing humus. After a number of such
heavy showers have fallen on an open piece of arabi~ land all
the top-soil is washed away into the brooks and nvers and
transported to the lowlands and the sea, and nothing remains
but the naked sub-soil. When this has occurred on an estate,
we may say that it has lost most of the capital value represented
by the soil, especially where the sub-soil is old, leached o.ut,
senile. In such cases it is very difficult to induce new vegetation
to grow on this very poor soil. If the sub-soil is not yet worn
out but still juvenile, the task will be easier and the results
more promising; but even then it can only be accomplished by
means of hard work and much care.
But, curiously enough, once this completely exhausted subsoil has come to the surface, only further erosion can save the
situation. For the layer of senile soil which has come to the
top must be washed away, so as to expose a mo~e juv~nile la~er
- ___ ,..__,_J_ 1-~~~a~ ,...f " nPw rvr.le of ve~retatwn, e1ther wild

or cultivated. Be that as it may, however, as long as there is

natural wood humus left in the soil of the tropics, erosion there
is as great a calamity as it is in temperate climates (U.S.A.).
Furthermore, in certain parts of the archipelago- on the Small
Sunda Islands, for instance - there are clear signs of wind
erosion as well as water erosion. This, too, carries away much
of the top-soil at times, when the land has become thoroughly
dried out, cracked and crumbly after a long East monsoon. Heavy
clay soil which is fairly well able to withstand the action of
rain-water flowing over its surface, falls a prey to strong winds
during the dry season and is blown away as dust.
So far we have only spoken of impoverishment- and occasional
enrichment - of arable land by the top-soil being carried
away. But the opposite often occurs too. The wind - and
even more frequently running water - supplies new soil here
and there by covering certain areas with sand and dust or silt
and clay. Whether the contribution so obtained improves the
land or not, depends on the quality of the new soil-covering
material and this again depends on whether the imported
elements come from a region where surface erosion prevails
generally, i.e., affects the whole surface equally, or from one
where this erosion takes the form of gulleying. In the former case
the silt carried by the water will consist chiefly of fertile topsoil; in the latter it is as a rule barren material brought to the
surface from some considerable depth. Where the silt is likely
to be fertile, an effort will be made to promote flooding as much
as possible, while keeping it entirely under control by means
of technically well-constructed irrigation works; where it consists
of barren material, precautionary measures will be taken to
prevent flooding as much as may be, and irrigation will be
resorted to but sparingly and with special care.

All factors mentioned hitherto as contributing to the

postponement or prevention of the complete exhaustion of the
wet soil of the tropics are really subsidiary to one radical factor
which may at any time suddenly bring about a fundamental
change in the whole situation, namely, the action of young
volcanoes. By this we mean the action of volcanoes that are
young, not in the geological sense of belonging to the quarternary,

in this case the holocene period, but in the sense that they have
been active within the historical period, and preferably so young
that they have been active during the present century - are
active still, in fact.
In the Indies such volcanoes are chiefly found in Java, but
there are also some in Bali and Lombok and on some of the
other Small Sunda Islands, in Celebes, and finally, in certain
parts of Sumatra. These all belong to the type which eject
great quantities of ashes, sand and stones over the surrounding
country. This means thorough rejuvenation of the soil in the
areas concerned.
At first everything in the immediate neighbourhood of the
centre of eruption, on the slopes of the mountain, is in ruins,
buried under all those ejecta. But it is surprising how quickly
the new surface becomes covered with a fresh mantle of vegetation.
A quarter of a century is often sufficient to bring this about.
This fact was noted in connection with the eruption of Krakatau
in r883, of Klut in rgo2 and again in rgrg. If there is no immediate
recurrence of the eruption, the new soil remains extraordinarily
fertile for centuries, to be finally subjected once more to gradual
impoverishment as a result of leaching by tropical rains.
Hence we may fitly apply the old Latin adage to the soil
of the tropics in the more limited sense referred to at the beginning
of this article: "Igne natura renovatur integra." Lacking that
volcanic fire, the soil would deteriorate completely, whether
slowly or quickly, and the means at man's disposal for
counteracting this process of impoverishment are, after all,
only makeshifts, important though they be from our human
standpoint.
Soil conditions actually obtaining in the Netherlands Indies
and, mutatis mutandis, in other tropical areas in Asia and South
America corroborate the views roughly outlined above.
It is no mere fortuitous circumstance that Java is the most
highly developed of all the islands, but the inevitable outcome
of natural conditions. A considerable number of volcanoes
which have been active within recent centuries, or even decades,
have repeatedly brought about complete rejuvenation of the
soil of the surrounding country. Here in Java we find cinchona
and tea plantations - both very exacting cultures - on the
slooes of the volcanoes. and on the olains at their foot- thanks

to the highly developed irrigation system - rice, sugar and

several other crops. But those parts of the island which lie
beyond the sphere of volcanic influence are obviously several
degrees less valuable from the agricultural point of view. Fortunately such areas are comparatively rare in Java.
In Sumatra the distribution is different. There, fine volcanic
areas are in the minority, occurring only in the North in the
Battaklands and Deli; in the central portion along the Western
coast and in the highlands of Padang; and in South Sumatra in
the Palembang highlands; but all these added together form but
a small fraction of this great island. Furthermore in comparing
Sumatra with Java, we must remember two things: Firstly,
that the dry East monsoon only touches the Southern portion
of Sumatra, and only reaches it when much reduced in strength.
Hence the leaching of the soil is continuous in these regions,
for there is scarcely a spot where an average rainfall lower than
roo mm. is ever registered for any month of the year whatever.
Secondly, not all volcanic products are of the same nature.
In Sumatra the ejecta often belong to the more "acid" type,
while in Java they are more "basic"; which means that in Sumatra
they contain more silicic acid, in Java more calcium, magnesia,
iron and phosphoric acid. Furthermore, in Java potassium is
found in a more easily assimilable form than in Sumatra. In
short, the ejecta in Java are more fertile and produce better
soil for agricultural purposes than those of Sumatra. If the
reader should be inclined to observe that there are volcanic
areas on the latter island not included in the above list, he
should remember that these are the districts where the acid
ejecta predominate.
From the above it follows - particularly if we consider that
vast areas in Sumatra are entirely outside the range of volcanic
influence - that this island as a whole will never be as fertile
or as intensively cultivated as Java, unless, indeed, countless
volcanoes become active there and thus rejuvenate and improve
the soil by scattering first-class volcanic ash over it, as for
instance Krakatau did all over the Southernmost portions of
Sumatra, when it erupted in r883. Sixty-five years ago the
Lam pong Districts were territory in which there was very little
doing; since r883 this region has revived; it is being developed
atrriculturallv: European enterprises flourish there and we find

immigration from Java to join already prosperous "colonies"

of migrants from that island. The impulse that led to all this
activity was given by the volcano.
Celebes differs in many respects from both Java and Sumatra.
There, too, we find young volcanic areas, chiefly in the North
Eastern peninsula, or the Minahasa, and these produce fertile
soil. The same may be said of the South Western peninsula.
As might be expected, these are the most prosperous and most
densely populated parts of the island. The remaining portions,
namely, the central part with its two protrusions extending
North East and South East respectively, possess no volcanoes,
nor any agriculture to speak of - at most coco-nut groves here
and there along the coast - because the soil there does not
encourage agriculture. And the population is much less dense
here than in the Minahasa and the S.S.W. portion of the island.
Now if we look at Borneo and New Guinea- we are considering
only the Netherlands section of the latter - we find that these
two islands are entirely devoid of volcanoes. No need to search
for juvenile volcanic soil-types there, for there are none. Nowhere
is the soil of such a character that it could be used without
previous special preparation to grow food crops for a number
of consecutive years. There are areas that present the necessary
physical characteristics but all the soil has reached an advanced
state of senility as a result of continuous leaching. Rubber
trees and the like demand very little from their surroundings
and will grow on the recently deposited alluvial soil as it is,
but in almost all other cases a crop needs manure, either animal
or artificial. Under these circumstances only crops that furnish
highly valuable products can be made to pay, and even then
there comes a time when previously effective measures prove
vain. A case in point is the now extinct tobacco-growing industry
in British North Borneo. Where at an earlier date the jungle
was forced to make room for plantations, the jungle has once
more made good its claim to the land.
To comment on all the other islands of the archipelago would
lead us far beyond the scope of this article. We will mention
only one or two points. It is interesting to note that in the early
days the Netherlands United East India Company settled in
the Moluccas, on the islands of Ternate, Tidore, Ambon and
Banda. The obiect was to cultivate valuable spices such as

cloves, nutmeg and mace. Curiously enough, all these islands

are volcanic. Buru, Ceram and 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 respective territories with first-rate juvenile
soil, on which has arisen a dense, prosperous and highly cultivated
population. Sumba, on the other hand, has had very little
volcanic influence, its dreary, desert-like wastes being composed
chiefly of bare, calcareous rocks. All there is of good soil is
washed or blown from the highlands into the lowlands and
hence we find, besides the very poor, utterly deserted areas
mentioned above, also fairly prosperous plains.

The above may be summarized as follows: It is true that

a fall of rain may be a blessing to an agricultural area parched
from drought, but it is equally true that in the tropical zone
in the narrower sense of the term - the zone in which the
Netherlands Indies are situated - too much rain is bad and,
further, that abundant rainfall is the cause of continually
increasing impoverishment of the soil. The only regeneration
of the soil that spells radical improvement is that produced
by volcanoes. Without active volcanoes the future can only
mean retrogression. But retrogression may be greatly retarded
and counteracted by human action. This last is the splendid
task of the science of agriculture. Much has already been achieved
along this line, and probably much more will be achieved in
the future.