As the grain ripens, an elevated shed is frequently erected in the centre of a plantation, within which a child on the watch touches, from time to time, a series of cords extending from the shed to the extremities of the field, like the radii of a circle, and by this cheap contrivance, and an occasional shout, prevents the ravages of birds, which would otherwise prove highly injurious to the crops. These little elevated sheds in the interior, and particularly in the district of _Bányumás_, are very neatly constructed of matting.
The reapers are uniformly paid, by receiving a portion of the crop which they have reaped: this varies in different parts of the island, from the sixth to the eighth part, depending on the abundance or scarcity of hands; when the harvest is general through a district, one-fifth or one-fourth is demanded by the reaper. In opposition to so exorbitant a claim, the influence of the great is sometimes exerted, and the labourer is obliged to be content with a tenth or a twelfth.
The grain is separated from the husk by pounding several times repeated. The first operation is generally performed in wooden troughs, in the villages near which it grows, and before it is brought to market. The _pári_ being thus converted into _bras_ or rice, afterwards receives repeated poundings, according to the condition or taste of the consumer.
With the exception of the rice raised in _sáwahs_, all other produce is cultivated on dry grounds, either on the _sáwah_ fields during the dry season, or on _tégal_ land, at all times exclusively appropriated to dry cultivation. The principal article next to rice, as affording food to man, is maize or Indian corn, termed _jágung_. It is general in every district of Java, but is more particularly an object of attention on _Madúra_, where, for want of mountain streams, the lands do not in general admit of irrigation. In the more populous parts of Java, likewise, where the _sáwahs_ do not afford a sufficient supply of rice, the inhabitants have lately had recourse to the cultivation of maize. It is now rapidly increasing in those low ranges of hills, which, on account of the poverty of the soil, had hitherto been neglected, and is becoming more and more a favourite article of food. In the more eastern districts, it is procured from the inhabitants of _Madúra_ in exchange for rice. It is generally roasted in the ear, and in that state is exposed while hot for public sale; but it is never reduced to flour, or stored for any considerable time.