124 



CHILI. 



Agricultures M. A. F. de Fontpertuis writes They have been worked to a depth of 1,800 : 



about the economical condition and agricultu- 2,200 feet. The amalgamating of silver-or 



ral and mineral resources of Chili, in an article is carried on in great establishments at ai 



published in the " Economiste Francais" : Out near Copiap6. 



of the 2,200,000 inhabitants more than two Nitrate. The belief prevailed^for a long tin 



thirds are agriculturists; and the eight central that the province of Tarapaca was the on 



provinces, Santiago, Colchagua, Curic6, Talca, portion of the Atacama desert producing z 



Maule, Linares, Xuble, and Concepcion, alone trate enough to make it worth while exportii 



contain a farming population of 1,400,000 the same, but the high taxes imposed by Pei 



souls. While the country between Valparaiso caused explorers to prospect the southern po 



and Santiago resembles the plains of northern tion of the desert in Bolivia and in the nort 



Italy, the resemblance is merely superficial, for ern part of Chili. In this manner the nitra 



even in its best portions the soil of Chili is deposits at Antofagasta were discovered, and 



poor; immense plains are uncultivated, and great impulse was given to the nitrate industi 



the methods of culture are most primitive, be- there; but the rivalries arising led to the la 



ing in this respect the very reverse of those war. 



in use in northern Italy. In both countries Commerce. Chilian foreign commerce near 



there is a lack of rainfall, and they have to re- doubled during the four years following 1871 



sort to irrigation. The destruction of forests - 



has been such in Chili that in some regions on Total foreign trade. increwe. Increa 



the coast there are during a year 335 days of percet 



drought, 12 days of a light and 18 days of a 1878 H&ffftH 



heavy rainfall. The plain of Chili, it is true, Jg;:; $$"} f^gt % 



is traversed by numerous water-courses, such issi 108,878,168 21,682,245 24-se 



as the Rio-Bio, Chilian, Maule, Nuble, and 1882 



many more, receiving their water from the 



snow of the Andes, but their fertilizing action IMPORT. 



is limited to a restricted area, and the art of ' i&sz. 1881. 



irrigation is only properly understood in the 



more northern provinces, Talca and Curico. gysea |B J'JSffi 



Out of 34,245,500 hectares of land only 7,891 ,- Overland A 60 ' 842 



200 are arable, and of these only one seventh Total... $53,502,214 $46,973,981 



is under culture, and even in this portion cul- 

 tivation is to a notable extent slothful. Dem- EXPORT. 



ocratic economists in Chili attribute this state i> TTTI 



of affairs to the large land-holdings by descend- _ 



ants of the conquerors, and insist, not without Products of the mines $56.137,670 $47,145.757 



some reason, that these large " hacendados - SSW-SSSS*::'::: "'^ "S3 



or landed proprietors have been a calamity Ee-export 997.674 1,459,651 



for Chilian agriculture. Fortunately, some ^^f-,::::: \S$> #8$ 

 .time ago the law of primogeniture was abol- 

 ished, and since then landed property gets to Total $71,374,126 $61,904,282 



be gradually better distributed among the 



farming population. This change has also had Chilian custom-houses yielded in 1882 tl 



the good effect of causing many of the large ensuing amounts of revenue : 



proprietors to settle down on their lands and i mport duties collected $11,802,8 



cultivate them, instead of living in luxury at Ten per cent additional 689,8 



the capital. Yet there have been till now wBSta^.:^.r.:C/.^:V/.:V/;V.".:V/.:;y.: SSa 



comparatively few small prosperous farmers, Light-house and tonnage dues....... '.'.....'..... 7i,'9 



and the system of long leases has not even vet gSKSSi*".iii-a::: ""-"- ,,tl 



been introduced. Export duty on nitrate of soda 7,C92,3 



Mining. Copper is found in a great many 



localities, especially in the provinces of Co- Total - $22,896,2 



quimbo, Aconcagua, Santiago, Nuranco, Chi- ^THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS OF CHILIAN FOREIGN TRADE. 



loe, and in Atacama, although in the latter two ' " 



gold and silver predominate. Caldera is the ** ** 



chiet port of the last-named province. Copi- 



ap6, its capital, is in the center of a long, nar- 1844-1858, 10 years.. $21,000,000 $19 



row valley, which might be fertile if it were JltlSlS " "'o%oro II 



not so badly irrigated, and surrounded by many 1874-1881, 8 " .. 73,000,000 



silver-mines partially abandoned because ex- " 



bausted. The richest mines were formerly the Anglo-German Competition. A French me 



Charnacillo, turning out, during the compara- chant reports from Iquique under date of Ms 



lively short period of 47 years from 1832 to 15, 1883 : "Although French goods are gene: 



1879, no less than $240,000,000 worth of pure ally very much liked in Chili, the trade bet wee 



silver, but these are now nearly exhausted. France and this coast has notably declined du 



