EESOURCES OF BRAZIL— STOCK-BEEEDING. 271 



Other European plants have little economic value, except in Rio Grande do 

 Sul. But even here wheat has been attacked by mildew, and is being gradually- 

 abandoned in favour of stock-breeding. Rice, which might be largely grown on 

 the marshy lowlands, and which is a staple article of diet throughout Brazil, is 

 almost entirely imported from Burma. The ant, which till recently made all 

 cultivation impossible in some districts, and which was popularly called " king of 

 Brazil," is no longer dreaded by the farmer. Certain fortnicides ('* ant-killers "), 

 introduced into the nests, destroy their inhabitants, and the smoke from the 

 explosions may often be seen issuing from every fissure in the ground. To get 

 rid of rats many gardeners keep a tame giboia, a small boa 10 or 12 feet long, 

 which sleeps through the day and hunts at night. 



In a region of boundless woodlands, such as Brazil, forest produce must 

 always hold an economic position of primary importance. The city of Para 

 holds a monopoly of the export trade in rubber, here called horracha, and in the 

 beHliolletia, or " Brazil nut," forwarded chiefly to England and Russia. Ama- 

 zonia also exports the guarana bean, and large quantities of medicinal plants, 

 while Ceara and the neighbouring coastlands, as far as Sergipe, supply the wax 

 of the carnauba palm. This palm yields, besides wax, a wine, a gum resembling 

 sago, a sap which answers as a substitute for cork, an edible fruit, and a fibre 

 from which textile fabrics are woven. The wax, which covers the leaves in the 

 form of a glutinous powder, and which is extracted by heat, is used in Europe 

 for various purposes, such as the preparation of tapirs and varnish, and also for 

 colouring paper. England imports the fibre of the piassava palm (ataJea funifera) 

 for making brushes and brooms. All the seaboard States abound in excellent 

 timber, cabinet and dye woods. To one of these plants, the echinata cœsalpinia, 

 Brazil owes its name. Another, the Jacaranda, has such an exquisite grain that 

 it has been named the pah santo, " holy wood," whence is derived the French 

 word, paiissandre, and the English palisander, a somewhat obsolete name for rose- 

 wood. 



Stock-Breedixg — Land Tenure. 



In horse and cattle breeding Brazil is outstripped by Argentina, although 

 possessing on the central plateaux and southern campos a nearly equal extent of 

 pastures. The industry, however, flourishes in Rio Grande do Sul, which supplies 

 Rio and other northern cities with a hardy breed of small mules, noted for great 

 staying power and endurance. Goyaz, Matto Grosso, and Minas also send to the 

 coastlands their boiadas, or droves of oxen, which reach their destination by short 

 stages, browsing by the way on both sides of the track. 



In the central regions these animals spring from two very distinct stocks, 

 which may be recognised especially by the length of the horns, which in the 

 Minas Geraes cattle may attain as much as six or seven feet from tip to tip. The 

 Jersey cow, the Indian zebu, and other stock, are now contributing to the 

 improvement of the native breeds. In Minas Geraes dairy-farming has acquired 

 a great development, and Minas cheese is now found on every table. 



