The Ladang was the swidden-field of an Atjehnese landschap — a piece of forest opened so far as necessary to obtain one rice-harvest. This reckless rice-cultivation, in Sumatra still wanted and usual, has been restricted in Peureula by the rule that the laying out of a ladang is permitted only in the old pepper-gardens, which the ladang-makers must first clean. That is an excellent measure, by which the abandoned and ruined pepper-gardens do not degenerate into wilderness. In the highlands of Gajo-land ladang-cultivation on the mountain-slopes is also practised; it runs off in four months. In Groot-Atjeh there are ladangs in the hill-country, though few.
See Also
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), chapters V, XII, XV, ‘Perlak, land van peper en olie’, ‘In het hart van Gajo-land’ and ‘Groot-Atjeh’, pp. 29, 85, 103.
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923); Atjeh Patchouli-Olie, by Ir. W. Spoon (1932), where applicable.