98 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS 



The countries to which the greater part of the exports, both agricult- 

 ural and mineral, are sent, are, in order of importance, Great Britain, 

 Germany, and the United States. These three, in the same order of 

 importance, are the chief countries exporting to Chile. 



3. Home Trade in Agricultural Produce. — Whilst the exportation of 

 agricultural produce is somewhat Hmited, the internal trade in this Une is 

 very considerable, because many of the localities which consume most are 

 at a long distance from the centres of production. For we know that 

 agricidtural produce for general consumption is only cultivated in the 

 middle zone, the northern zone chiefly producing nitre and the southern 

 being pastoral, and thus depending on the r, iddle zone for their su; plies. 



A large quantity therefore of agricultural produce must be carried 

 far, and must pass through many hands. Agriculture is then the prin- 

 cipal factor in the home trade and in the coasting trade etc. 



Traffic between the various zones of production must evidently be 

 carried on by sea. The physical conformation of Chili admits of only a 

 hmited development of railway Unes (6,117 km.), except in the middle 

 zone, which is agricrdtural and populous, where railways are indispensable 

 for the transport of goods from the interior to the cities and ports. 



Chief among these ports is Valparaiso, where the greater part of the 

 cargoes for foreign countries are collected for transport by steam-boats. 

 Other ports of importance for the coasting trade, are Punta Arenas, Iqui- 

 que, Antofagasta and Tocopilla in the uorth ; (i) Coquimbo, Talcahuano, 

 Valdivia, in the middle zone ; Puerto Montt and Ancud in the southern. 



In 1912, the coasting trade amormted to a total of 517,400,000 gold 

 pesos (253,700,000 pesos for imports, and 253,700,000 pesos for exports). In 

 these amounts animal products figure for 56,900,000 pesos, vegetable 

 for 229,800,000 pesos, wine and other drinks for 68,500,000 pesos. These cal- 

 culations show that two thirds of the coasting trade consists in transport 

 of agricultural products, either raw or manufactured. 



As to the railway transport of produce, which in 1912 amounted 

 to 7,520,000 tons, it is impossible to say how much of this could be 

 considered as agricultural. 



Trade in agricultural produce is carried on by means of many inter- 

 mediaries. It is very seldom that the producer sells directly to the 

 consumer even when selling wholesale, for agriculturists, who are large 

 proprietors, generally hand over their produce exclusively to one dealer 

 who undertakes to dispose of it, unless he purchases it on his own 

 account as a speculation. 



This explains how agricultural products and articles of food in par- 

 ticular are bought by the consumer at prices entirely out of proportion to 

 those paid by the dealer to the producer. The following table gives an 

 idea of the enormous difference. 



(i) These are ports for sailimg vessels carrj'ing cargoes of nitre. 



