A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY. 



water ; or he will eat half a peck of peaches or pears with like facility. Where they find space 

 to stow so much, haH more than once p -rpl. -\ -d me. But it was not a matter of surprise that 

 they should s< -k th. shade, and utretrh f ln-ins.-hrs upon the hare earth, face downward, imme- 

 diati-lv alt. i wards. Ami there they often lie after hell-ring, if their siesta is not com pi- 

 pivfcrrin^ to lose the value of their morning's labor rather than deprive themselves of the 

 enjoyment. < >n the other hand, the women are above the average height, with something of 

 the H<| nan ness <>t th.-ir Indian ancestors, and, maugre almost incessant nursing of infante, have 

 full, r. .mi. I i inures and faces, a spare one being as uncommon as is a portly man. They also 



sr.-m i -e active, iimn- intelligent, and better disposed than their partners, and, altogether, 



create an impression much more favorable. 



The extent of cultivated land belonging to each estate will vary with the intelligence of the 

 proprietor in agriculture and his necessities, or both ; and, as there are few who seem to be 

 aware how essential is rest to their fields, and none ever attempt renovation by manures, nothing 

 saves the soil from exhaustion but the rich mineral deposit annually left during irrigation. As 

 the surface has a natural and rapid slope from east to west, streams generated by the melted 

 snows of the mountains fall with impetus towards the ocean, urging along masses of limestone 

 and other rocks that contain mineral manures. By attrition these are converted into a fine 

 powder, which is mingled with the water. Longitudinal canals along the base of the Andes are 

 supplied from the rivers. These, in their turn, are tapped to furnish the different haciendas, 

 and the water finally traverses the fields in ten thousand petty streamlets, or acequias, man- 

 aged by a special class of experienced laborers, who have no other duty than to attend them, 

 preserve them free from obstruction, and water the several fields at the intervals they require. 

 Wheat-fields ordinarily receive four irrigations between the cessation of the rains in September 

 and the maturity of the grain at the close of November; on each occasion the fields remaining 

 submerged during one night, and sometimes for twenty-four hours. When the water is deep 

 enough on the ground, the supply is reduced until it equals the absorption and evaporation, 

 thus preventing currents over the growing crops and abrasion of the surface soil. One result 

 from this method of flooding is the mineral deposition referred to, which in some years 

 amounts to a stratum of three fourths of an inch. A few years ago, the plain of Maypu, just 

 south of the city, would not yield the planter five-fold of wheat. The surface was little more 

 than gravel and coarse sand ; but by treating it in this way, large proportions of it now produce 

 from twenty to forty fold. Could proprietors be persuaded to use deep or sub-soil ploughs, and 

 free the land of pebbles somewhat, it is impossible to fix a limit to the probable returns from 

 the rich sandy loam covering the whole surface of the valley. Not an ounce of manure has 

 ever intentionally been placed on any part of it ; and yet the successive floodings have elevated 

 several fields more than half a foot. 



The only implement for breaking up large pieces of ground is an almost exact pattern of the 

 old Roman plough. A knee-shaped log of wood, the larger end of which serves as the share, 

 and the smaller as a handle, has a second straight log inserted in it near the joint, intended as a 

 tongue or draught-beam. The angle of the latter with the part forming the share is variable 

 at pleasure by wooden wedges, and the end of the share or mould-board is shod with iron, so 

 as to form a sort of coulter. A yoke of oxen secured to the rude instrument will scarcely open 

 a furrow three inches deep ; and, in fact, rarely penetrates as deep as a careful farmer would 

 harrow. At diiferent times, other implements have been brought from the United States and 

 Europe, and whilst the proprietor stood over the laborer he compelled their use ; but such is 

 the force of custom that they have been abandoned, after a trial or two, in despair at failures to 

 instruct in their manipulation. Let them but try deep ploughing, with alternations of rest, 

 alfalfa (lucerne), and cereals, and there is no part of Chile between Coquimbo and Valdivivia 

 which would not produce above thirty-fold. In fact, even under the present system of cultiva- 

 tion, sixty-fold is not an uncommon return in the province of Concepcion ; and there are fields 

 which readily return one hundred for one. In the northern and central provinces wheat and 



