THE T,AND QUESTION AND COI^ONISATlOX 1 01 



lower than it is at present ; yet the figures confirm what we have said as to 

 the prevalence of large estates. 



Let us observe that in the estates considered in this Table, State, 

 municipal and ecclesiastical lands, which do not pay taxes were not 

 included. If the calculation could be made, not of the value, but of 

 the area (for which, however, we have not sufficient data) , the proportion 

 of small holdings would be still less, since the value of these per unit of area 

 is notably higher than that of the medium sized or great estates. 



3. Increase in Value of Rural Land. — Rural land has gone on increas- 

 ing in value according to the demands of the home markets and the 

 economic progress of the country. 



Half a century ago, a cuadra (i) of good arable land, well watered., in 

 the vicinity of the capital, was worth at most 400 pesos, and in local- 

 ities more distant from centres of population it might be bought for even 

 ten pesos. Twenty-five years ago, the highest price for such a holding 

 would have been 1,000 pesos and the lowest 50. At present 5,000 pesos 

 is not a rare price and there is not a cuadra of arable and irrigated ground 

 that is not worth at the least 150 pesos, even if situated in the most remote 

 districts. So, in the course of 50 years, we see that the value of land has 

 risen in the proportion of i to 12. Admitting that the value of money is 

 four times less now than it was then, the value of arable land has trebled 

 in 50 years. 



Naturalh^ there are great differences dependent on ph^^sical, social 

 and economic conditions (proximity to centres of population, means of 

 communication, systems of cultivation); but that which chiefly affects the 

 price is whether the land be suitable for irrigation or not. Arid soil will only 

 grow cereals and give small returns (see § 3). Yet if the arid soil is irrigat- 

 ed it doubles and trebles in value in a few years, as is also the case 

 where extensive cultivation is exchanged for intensive. 



Land in the northern and middle parts of the central zone is the 

 most valuable; then going southward we find the value gradually di- 

 minishes where certain arid tracts not yet cleared may be bought for 

 10 pesos per hectare. 



We give some instances which occurred in 19 12. In the district of 

 Penaflor about an hour by railway from the capital, a holding of 9 cua- 

 dras suitable for irrigation and adapted for fruit growing, with more 

 than 2 cuadras and a half of vineyards and a dwelling house, was 

 on sale for 70,000 pesos. In the province of Curico, near a railway 

 station, an area of 1,500 cuadras adapted for the cultivation of 

 cereals, for hay making, and for the rearing and fattening of cattle, was 

 for sale at 800,000 pesos. In the province of Osorno,far to the south, a 

 property of 100 cuadras, suitable for irrigation and near a railway, might 

 be had for 25,000 pesos. 



(i) A cH:'..{ira of land is about a hectare and a half (or 15,651 sq. metres). 



