THE IvAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION II 7 



Lucern is cut four or five times during ten months of the year ; rain in 

 summer is almost unknown, and therefore the preparation of ensilage is 

 eas3^ and lucrative. In the provinces of Aconcagua and Santiago, connected 

 with the farms there are numerous establishments for the preparation of 

 ensilage, equipped after the latest style wirh machinery worked by hydraul- 

 ic or electric force. The price of ensilage is 2.50 pesos for 46 kilograms 

 of the first crop and 3 pesos for the second. 



3. Hoed plants. — Hoed plants (beans, potatoes etc.) or chacareria 

 crops (i) are very abundant in \dew of the large consumption of them in 

 the country and their extensive exportation; but in their case progress is 

 slow, because of the backward system of cultivation, the labour being 

 performed by hand. The employment of machinery would increase the 

 production, reduce t'^.e cost and increase the exportation. 



Among the hoed crops, the most important is the bean which, with 

 patatoes and wheat, forms the staple food ; according to official data, beans 

 are cultivated annually on from 30,000 to 35,000 hectares (2) and the yield 

 is 450,000 quintals. The price varies from 33 to 38 pesos per quintal. 



Next in importance to the bean comes the potato ; to this crop about 

 30,000 hectares are annually devoted, producing about 2,5c 0,000 quint- 

 als (3), almost all consumed in the country as food for men and animals 

 and in the manufacture of alcohol. 



The potato is generally cultivated near the coast, especially towards 

 the centre, where it flourishes in land that is not irrigated. If the means 

 of communication were better, the yield might be increased tenfold. 



Maize is grown generally as an alternate crop with beans ; the area 

 covered by it is not large, from 23,000 to 25,000 hectares, and its yield 

 is from 300,000 to 350,000 quintals, consumed entirely in Chile. 



Among other chacareria crops may be mentioned peas, lentils, and 

 vetches. 



4. Viticulture and fruit cultivation. — The intensive cultivation of 

 ligneous plants, especially of the vine and of fruit trees, is largely developed, 

 and supports flourishing industries, viz., the making of wine and jams. 

 About 60,000 hectares (4) are devoted to vines, distributed through 

 nearly all the middle zone, but most frequent in the north and centre ; the 

 vine grows also in the nitrous zone, where the land is irrigated. In the 

 north as far as the province of Coquimbo, the vine is principally cultivated 

 to make the finest wine, such as port and sherry, as well as cognac. Grapes 

 are also dried and the raisins prepared for sale. In the central provinces 

 must, and wine are produced (chiefly Bordeaux and table wines) as well as 



(i) A chacra is a small farm of intensive cultivattion, worked on the metayer system. 

 {2) According to the orivate information above referred to, the land under beans is 

 from 120,000 to 150,000 hectares, producing about 1,500,000 hectolitres. 



(3) The above quoted consular report gives 3,500,000 quintals as the average 3aeld ; the 

 area cultivated is, according to private information, about 50,000 hectares, with a yield 

 of 4,000,000 hectolitres. 



(4) The above quoted private sources state the area of the vineyards at 100,000 hectares. 



