THE I,AND QUESTION AND COIvONISATION 123 



tory of Magellan. In the same year the land was sold by public auction, 

 800,000 hectares divided into 73 lots being sold at the average price of 5.40 

 pesos per hectare. The rest was disposed of at a second auction, and 

 as the quality of the soil was inferior, the average price was 3 pesos per 

 hectare. 



In 1905, as the result of a new law, 397,000 hectares of land situated 

 along latitude 51 {Ultima Esperanza) were sold. But, as the auction took 

 place at a time of feverish excitement on the Exchange, the price per 

 hectare for one lot rose to 26.20 pesos, for another to 36 pesos, and for 

 a third to 56.60 pesos. It must be observed that this third lot had 

 been valued by the Treasury experts at 5 pesos per hectare. The greater 

 number of purchasers did not fulfil the conditions of the contract, and 

 preferred even to sacrifice the security they had given: the land was there- 

 fore sold by auction some months later for an average price of 12.25 pesos 

 per hectare. 



All the land suitable for sheep rearing in the Territory of Magellan 

 hitherto alienated amounts to an area of 1,750,000 hectares ; its sale has 

 realised for the State the sum of 12,750,000 pesos, i. e. an average of 7.25 

 pesos per hectare. 



About 4,000,000 hectares adapted for sheep rearing stiU remain to 

 the State. Much of this land is let or granted for a term, so that by degrees 

 it will again return to the State. 



The formation of private property in the Territory of Magellan has led 

 to excellent results; permanent improvements have been made on the land; 

 factories for the utilization of animal produce have been built; several estab- 

 lishments for the preparation of frozen meat have been installed ; and the 

 quality of the breeds of the animals has been considerably improved. Thus, 

 in the Territory of Magellan, where sheep were unknown before 1877, twenty 

 years later (1897) there were 813,000 head, and in 1906 the number had in- 

 creased to 1,836,000 ; the average annual increase being 35 %, taking the 

 losses through death into account. 



Several establishments for the preparation of frozen mutton, equipped 

 in the most modern style, are working successfully. In this region sheep 

 improvement is carried on principally with a view to the production of 

 wool and to this object many estancias arc giving their attention. 



The jdeld of wool is generally £ 7 per head. Its price, leaving 

 out of the calculation the fluctuations caused by the conditions of the 

 market, varies with the system of sale. Some breeders sell the wool 

 to houses at Punta Arenas, where it is prepared and exported ; others, the 

 greater number, sell it directly in Europe through the great I^ondon firms, 

 already washed and prepared. The average net price in Europe for 

 Magellan wool was 5.53 pence per lb. in 1895, 7.63 pence in 1902, 11.44 

 pence in 1906 and 9 pence in 1910. 



The wool exported from the port of Punta Arenas and sent almost 

 exclusively to England amounted in 1911 to 7,631 tons valued at 

 6,000,000 gold pesos. 



