REPORTS OF CONSULS AND CONSULAR AGFNTS. [69] 



devis cousnmecl at Santauder, wljcn^ about 200.000 (i)io('es or nieiers?) of liueii iin- 

 ported from Bog(»ta, and valued at $40,000, arc also consumed. 



Let these data suffice until I am able to send you those of the other cotton-raising 

 States. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



JUAN DE DIOS CARRASQUILLAS. 

 Mr. Bendix Koppel, 



dinted Elates Consul at Bogota. 



[United States of Colombia. Office of the National Corami.ssioner of Agriculture. Department of the 

 Treasiiry and the National Credit.] 



Bogota, March 22, 1880. 



Sir : OJ the data which I have requested in behalf of the Entomological Commis- 

 sion of tlie Government at Washington upon certain points relating to the cultivation 

 of cotton, I have to-day received the following, which have been furnished to me by 

 Mr. Francisco J. Balm'aseda, President of the Central Board of Agriculture of the 

 State of Bolivar, in an oificial note numbered 511, and dated Cartagena, February 21, 

 1880. 



Mr. Balmaseda says : 



Referring to the questions of the Entomological Commission of the Government at 

 Washington, I will answer them in their order. 



1. In the State of Bolivar, during the war for secession in North America, cotton 

 was cultivated on quite a large scale, and was sold in Europe as high as 18 pence per 

 kilogram. Its cultivation afterwards declined on account of the cheapness and abun- 

 dance of American cotton ; only small quantities are now exported, and its cultivation 

 is performed by women and boys. From Sejjtember 1, 1878, to August 30, 1879, the 

 amount exported from the port of Cartagena was but 436 bales, weighing 66,029 kilo- 

 grams, and valued at f 17,525 ; from that of Baranquilla the amount exported was 

 doubtless greater. The details of its cultivatioA are as follows : During the months 

 of February and March the laborers clear the ground of trees and brushwood ; these 

 they burn at the close of the latter month and plant the cotton as soon as the first 

 showers fall, using the seed, w^hich they place so that there may be an interval of 

 three varas (a vara is a little less than a yard) between each plant ; they give it three 

 cleanings, and the crop is gathered from January to March of the year following. 



2. There is only a large ant called the '^Arriera," which is known in Cuba as the 

 " Vivijagua." Neither the Anomis xylina is known nor any insect that injures it (the 

 cotton). 



3. There is no Cotton Worm in this country. 



4. Whether this worm is indigenous to this country ? See answer to question 3. 



5. How long has cotton been cultivated in the United States of Colombia, and is it 

 found in a wild state ? 



It is not found in a wild state, but it is an indigenous plant ; the Spaniards found 

 it cultivated by the Indians. There are two kinds of cotton on this Atlantic coast, 

 one called the " rinou," which has a great abundance of seeds and but little wool, 

 while the other, which is the one commonly cultivated, has no particular name. 



In the interior of the Republic there are four kinds, known as the " lengupa," 

 " guane," " rinon," and *' pajarito." The plant of the kind last named lasts for three 

 years. It is proper for me to say that the cotton plant in this State of Bolivia lives 

 for ten or twelve years, and such is the exuberance of its vegetation that in some lo- 

 calities — and this is a common thing — it attains so great a height as i^roperly to be 

 considered a tree. 



Cultivators begin to prune during the second season. The main object of this oper- 

 ation is to prevent the stem from taking a vertical direction and to promote the 

 growth of lateral branches, as the work of picking the cotton is tb us rendered easier. 

 It is a curious fact that the natives of what is now the capital of the Republic not 

 only manufactured valuable cotton cloths, but that they dyed them of various colors. 

 So rich were they that on the arrival of the Spaniards during that period of religious 

 fanaticism, these cloths served to cover the ornaments that were used on the occasion 

 when the first mass was said at Bogota. 



I trust that these data will be found satisfactory, and that they will be of some 

 service to the Government of the United States. I hope soon to be able to furnish sim- 

 ilar information from other parts of the Republic, as I have requested the various 

 State governments and also private persons to procure such and transmit it to the 

 agricultural office under my charge. 



I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



JUAN DE DIOS CARRASQUILLAS. 



Hon. Bendix Koppel, 



United States Consul at Bogota. 



