116 EXPLOITATION OF THE FORESTS 



extension into Argentine territory of the great belt of 

 colonies of southern Brazil, which stretches from the 

 neighbourhood of Santa Catalina and the Rio Grande 

 do Sul to the River Paraguay. The Brazilian type of 

 colonization is based upon work with the hoe, in clearings 

 that have been made in the forest by the axe and by fire. 

 Ordinary farming would be impracticable between the 

 large stumps which the clearers have to leave in the 

 ground, to rot there slowly. It would, moreover, be 

 useless, as the land, though rich in humus, is light and 

 aerated. The red soil, a decomposition-product of the 

 diabases which are at the root of all agricultural wealth 

 in southern Brazil, covers a great part of Misiones. 

 The economic inferiority of this agricultural colonization 

 in the forest to the Pampean type which has conquered 

 the grassy plains of the Rio de la Plata, is twofold. 

 On the one hand, the surface that a man can develop 

 is very small. The plots of the Brazilian colonies are 

 ten times smaller than the average estate on the Pampa. 

 On the other hand, it is difficult to get about in the 

 forest, and this hinders the export of the produce. 



The colonies in Misiones are still confined to the edge 

 of the great forest, into which they will advance as the 

 agricultural population grows. They form two groups : 

 one on the river above Posadas (Candelaria, Bonpland, 

 Corpus, San Ignacio, and Santa Ana), the other on the 

 slopes of the hills, above the line from Posadas to Uru- 

 guay (San Jose and Apostoles). Foodstuffs, tobacco, fowl 

 and eggs, which they now send by rail as far as Buenos 

 Aires, are their chief resources. As it is possible for 

 them to reach the big markets of the Pampas, by river 

 or rail, they have a certain advantage over the Brazilian 

 colonies. On the other hand, the various elements of 

 their population are inferior. They are very mixed, 

 comprising aboriginals — relics of the ancient Indian or 

 half-breed population of Misiones who have got land but 

 are in no hurry to cultivate it — Poles (grouped in a few 

 villages, such as Apostoles and San Jose), and German- 



