28S 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1883. 



the seed of which you kintUy sent me in January, has growu 

 to the sa:ne height and promises well. 



The harvest of Ace last year proved satisfactory and 

 prospects at present are favoiu'able." — Madras ■Mail. 



USEFUL PLANTS IN PAEAGUAY. 



Yerba JIate, the tea of South America, is noticed in a 

 report on the useful plants of Paraguay. If all thatis said of 

 the qualities of the plant be true, we are not surprized at 

 its popularity ; but we confess to being staggered at figures 

 for a consumption of more than 100,000 lb. Another matter 

 of surprise is that no attempt seems to have been made 

 to prepare the Ilex leaves after the fashion of tea-making. 

 We extract the following from the Gnrdeners' Chronicle-. — 

 From a report on the commerce and finance of Para- 

 guay, the following notes on the vegetable products of the 

 country are gathered. Tobacco, it seems, is one of the prin- 

 cipal articles of export, and it is said to be cultivated by 

 nearly the whole population of Paraguay. The approximate 

 quantity of production is calculated at 5,.5OO,O00 kilog. per 

 year, .and it yearly tends to make progress. Although the 

 Argentine Kepublic, and, on a smaller scale, Uruguay and 

 Chili, are the chief markets for Paraguayan Tobacco, yet as 

 these countries have themselves for some years past taken 

 to cultivate this article, it is to presumed that the said coun- 

 tries, on improving and increasing the cultivation of Tobacco 

 so as to produce enough for the consumption of their own 

 inhabitants, will find it to be in their interest to protect their 

 own industries by Custom-house measm-es against the entry 

 of foreign Tobacco. It is coHsequently very important for 

 Paraguay to find a European market for its Tobacco produce ; 

 but the quality will have to be considerably ameliorated be- 

 fore the Republic can hope to succeed in this. .Smoking is 

 universal, and is indulged in ahke by men, women, and 

 ■ children; the women make up the cigars, and it may be said 

 that since the war, which all Ijut annihilated every man in 

 the country, the women are employed in nearly all agricul- 

 tural pursuits. 



Tobacco can be cultivated anywhere in the country, but the 

 places best known for the excellent quality grown are Villa 

 Jtica, ItacouK?, Luque, and the banks of the river Apa. The 

 feti-hohi/ (ablue Tobacco) and the^ifii-;in)v(( yellow) are those 

 which are cultivated with the gi-eatest care. The former, 

 coming from Villa Rica, is used for home consumption, and 

 the latter (peti-para) tor export. piUTioses. The Tobacco seed 

 used in Paraguay was originally introduced from Havarmah, 

 with the exception of the peti-hohy. the original of which is 

 unknown. The pcti-pard, which contains 6 per cent, of nico- 

 tine, is higlily esteemed and generally smoked hy the natives. 

 At Luque a species of Havannah Tobacco is grown, which 

 in its quality resembles the Brazilian Bahia Tobacco. It is 

 stated that the whole ground at present under Tobacco cul- 

 tivation in Paraguay does not exceed in the aggregate a 

 square league of land. 



Next in importance to Tobacco, if not of greater value, is 

 the cultivation of Yerba, or Paraguay Tea (Ilex pataguay- 

 ensis). The Yerba fields hitherto worked are those those 

 situated in the northern and southern districts of Paraguay. 

 The northern fields ase State property, and are leased to the 

 cultivators by the Government, the lessees paying a license 

 tax of trifling amoimt. 



The southern fields were granted by Government to lessees 

 for a term of ten years, from January 1, 1S80, on condition 

 that the Government should receive the sum of 12 dol. 

 (£2 8s.) for every 2.5,000 English poimds) produced by them. 

 Yerba-mat^ is at the present time exclusively consumed in 

 the Kepublics of the Siver Plate, Uruguay, and Chili. There 

 seems a strong reason to suppose that at some futm'e time 

 Yerba wiW become an article of export to Europe. 



From a translation of a paper on the subject published in 

 the Itevue Scientifique de ParishyM.. Louis Oonti, some in- 

 teresting facts may be gathered, amongst which may be 

 mentioned the facts that the quantity annually exi^orted 

 from Brazil may be reckoned at 30,000,000 kilos, or 300 000 

 metrical quintals, and that from Paraguay about one-sixth 

 that amount, or ab.jut 5,000,000 kilos, or 50,000 metrical 

 quintals. In one province alone of lirazil, viz., Parana, 

 15,000,000 kilos are exported annually ; added to this the 

 quantity required for home consumption must be taken into 



account, and thus the total consumption of Yerba-mat6 in 

 each year may be put down at 500,000 metrical quintals, or 

 50,000,000 kilos. 



"The virtues of Yerba-mat© as a mild stimulant are well 

 known, and it possesses nutritious qualities in no mean degree. 

 It may be said that in certain parts of South America it con- 

 stitutes nearly the whole sustenance of field labourers when 

 engaged in the outdoor pursuits. It has been noticed that 

 in towns certain persons take httle else in the way of food 

 and especially women, who are in the habit of taking from 

 ten to twelve cups per day. All authors who have treated 

 on Yerba-mate from the early publications of the Jesuits to 

 the more modem wcv^:s of Bonpland, Mantigazza, Parodi, 

 Barbier, and others, are unauimous in stating that the nutri- 

 ment afforded by Yerba-mate suflices to sustain the system 

 during a prolonged interval of labour. The consumption has 

 increased fivefold within the last forty years." 



A comparison is drawn between the cost of Coffee culti- 

 vation and preparation and those of Yerba ; while with the 

 former the processes of pulping, roasting, &c., have to be 

 gone through, with the latter the processes are simple and 

 rapid, and can be completed in from twenty-four to thirty- 

 six hours. "A slight scorching of the leaves caused by rapidly 

 passing through a fire, lit vnth aromatic wood, the sprouta 

 no which they grow, completes the first operation. The 

 next consists in suspending small branches of these sprouts 

 at the height of 2 metres from the ground beneath the roof 

 of a shed open to the air on all sides in such a way that 

 these branchesform as it were a ceiling. In thisposition they 

 are exposed dining fifteen or twenty hoxirs to the action of 

 a fire kindled beneath them with sweet-sented wood, which 

 burns briskly without yielding any smoke; afterwards the 

 scorched sprouts are coarsely ground, and this forms the 

 last operation which Yerba-mat^ undergoes in the forests 

 before being transported thence to the towns and villages. It 

 is then tiuatlj' prepared for transport to its place of sale. So 

 trifling indeed are the operations to which the Ilex leaf is 

 submitted in the forests themselves, that in a couple of days 

 a few men accustomed to the task can dry between 3,000 

 and 4,000 kilos of Yerba." 



On the subject of dm-,able and ornamental woods, the 

 botanical origin of which we know so little about, it is said 

 that the couiitry is indescribably rich in such woods, suitable 

 either for building or industrial purposes, but for the want of 

 an easy accommodation they cannot as yet be sent to European 

 markets. The requirement seems to be the proi-idingof small 

 but powerful cargo vessels of very light di-aught, and capable 

 of carrying when loaded about -100 tons. Quebracuo wood 

 is referred to as being a very hard wood, weighing 38 kilos 

 per cubic foot, which is sent in large quantities to France. 

 It is useful for tanuing and colouring purposes as well as tor 

 rail-.vay sleepers. This appears to be the Red Quebracho 

 (Loxopeterygium Lorentzii.) 



All fruit trees of temperate countries, such as the Pear, 

 Apple, Fig, &c., besides those of hot cUmates, such as Orange, 

 Banana, &c., are cultivated at Paraguay. Orange are so 

 plentiful that they merely h:ive a nominal value. The price 

 of 6,000 Oranges delivered alongside the vessels in the river 

 Paraguay is 5 dols. 7oc. (£1 3s. lid.) during a period of abun- 

 dance. The price increases only when the fruit is getting 

 scarce. In the Custom-house Returns for 18S1 Oranges figure 

 in numbers in the export Ust at 47,917,700, and in value at 

 47,917 dols. 70c. (£9,583 10s. lOd.) These Oranges have an 

 excellent flavour, and are shipped in enormous numbers to 

 the j\jgentine markets, chiefly Buenos Ayres. 



There are three varieties of Sugar-cane cultivated, two of 

 a white and another of a darker colom-, the latter of which 

 grows to about the same size as the large white variety, 

 resiststhecoldbetter. Sugar-cane grows admir.ably through- 

 out the country and everywhere, without its being necessary 

 to irrigate the plantations, which last from eight to nine 

 years. This industry, however, isin a primitive state, and re- 

 maiu.s stagnant at the present moment from want of capital 

 and enterprise. The consumption of caniu, the rum made 

 from the native cane, is enormous throughout the whole 

 country. Once planted the cane may be said to yield juice 

 during ten or eleven consecutive years. In spite of the ex- 

 cellent quality of the Sugar-cane, and the favourable nature 

 of the land for growing it, Paraguay consumes annually on 

 an average from 15,000 to 20,000 arrobas (from 375,000— 

 500,000 lb.) of foreign sugar, and with the heavy import duties 



