Boeloeh Blang Ara is the estate of the Handelsvereeniging Amsterdam (H.V.A.) in the onderafdeeling Lho’ Seumawé of the afdeeling Noordkust van Atjeh, opened in 1920 and given up as failed in 1922 after the H.V.A. had spent eight tons of gold on it. The estate lies a short distance west of Lho’ Seumawé on a narrow, bumpy road, and is one of the great disappointments of the post-war planting-period in Atjeh. The H.V.A. had planted 240 bouw of coffee and 330 bouw of rubber, and had built all the buildings properly. The failure is, in Broersma’s judgement, ultimately the H.V.A.’s own fault: the soil was full of large stones and the rainfall was below 2.000 mm a year — facts that should have been known before the planting was begun. After the H.V.A.’s retreat the land was given back to the landschap, and new applicants had already come to look, attracted especially by the presence of the gardens and buildings. The land-grant was, as Broersma learned, already re-issued.
See Also
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), passim.