Page 87 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

purpose: to collect, cultivate and conduct scientific research into plants and

crops. They specialized in different areas of research but shared their results, a
strategy that allowed rapid progress. The Economic Garden introduced new
plants, cultivated them, improved the strain and passed specimens to farmers for
testing. The Garden’s commercial bias meant it concentrated on plants already in
demand, such as quinine. In the 1930s, quinine was the only known cure for
malaria and Indonesia supplied 80 per cent of the world’s requirement.

The Economic Garden also worked on herbs and spices with commercial
potential. It researched plants like kumis kucing (cat’s whiskers; orthosiphon
aristatus), temu lawak (curcuma xanthorrhiza) and akar tuba (Derris elliptica; a
climber used as fish poison and, at one time, the toxic component for
insecticides). They cultivated patchouli, lemongrass, vetiver, sandalwood and
kenanga (ylang-ylang; canangium odoratum) for use in perfume and beauty
preparations. Their range of spices focused on black pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
cubeb pepper, ginger, cardamom and vanilla—all names that were already
sought after in Europe’s kitchens. The Botanical Garden was equally productive.

It started from nothing in 1817, but 50 years later boasted over 10,000 different
species. By 1876, the Garden was forced to acquire new land for expansion and
experimental work. The momentum continued, and a year later, the Director
founded Indonesia’s first Agricultural School, the Plant and Veterinary Institute.
These developments laid the foundations for Bogor’s internationally