By Albert Buys

The plantation agriculture in Suriname is at least 300 years old. This
particular kind of agriculture would not have been possible without a
good knowledge of hydraulic engineering. Even the elegant plantation
homes standing on stilts (neuten) have some connection with 'water'. The
sluices around the countryside and the architectural design of the
plantation complexes remain unique and historical.

The plantation system is like a polder system which uses hydraulic
engineering. In the 17th century, the first plantation owners were
British, Dutch and Portuguese Jews from Brazil. The first plantation
crops were tobacco and sugar. Then came coffee, cotton and cocoa. At
present rice, citrus and bananas are grown. In 1720, there were also
lesser known crops planted such as orleane a red dye (near Orleane Kreek)
and indigo blue (near Blauwgrond).

The plantation system required the use of capable Dutch land surveyors to
map out the layout of the plantations. The product of all the surveying
work
can be seen on the 18th century maps of Suriname. Most of these maps are
found in a museum or archives. The eldest plantations were located higher
up the river not only for security reasons but also the water for
planting was fresh and less salty and in addition the soil was more
fertile than near the coast. The bigger plantations used mills powered by
water to crush the sugar cane while the smaller ones used animals such as
a horse or mule. The remnants of the sugar mills can still be found in
the jungle as many plantations were deserted over time especiallly during
the 18th and 19th century.

Of the original sugar plantations, only the'sugar company' at Marienburg
remains. Its obsolete mills were upgraded in 1921 with new steam engines
designed by "Werkspoor' in Amsterdam.

Many black and white photographs of plantation homes can be found in the
book below. The plantation homes will continue to attract historians,
artists and tourists as many have a unique history of its own.

De Architektuur van Suriname, C.L. Temminck Groll, A.R.H. Tjin A Djie, De
Walburg Pers, Zutphen, 1973. ISBN 906011.441.8

Many sketches and drawing of plantation homes can be found in:

Bouwkunst in Suriname, Ir. J.L. Volders, Kersten Co, 1973. No ISBN