Peru — Its Resources and Development 315 



vine and cotton plants are planted in 

 ditches about two yards and a half 

 deep. When the rainy season comes 

 the ditches are filled with water, the 

 plants being practically submerged. 

 The thirsty soil absorbs the water and 

 preserves the moisture until the next 

 watering season. In the Department 

 of Piura this peculiarity is still more 

 remarkable, as those lands that can not 

 be irrigated because of the limited water 

 supply depend for their moisture on the 

 periodical and copious rains that occur, 

 curiously enough, about every seven 

 years. During this long period the 

 tracts remain un watered, and yet con- 

 tinue to yield crops of the best cotton 

 in the world. 



Cotton, which comes next to sugar 

 cane among the agricultural products 

 of the coast, is principally grown in the 

 departments of Piura, lea, and Lima. 

 Piura produces the remarkable cotton 

 called vegetable wool, known in Eu- 

 rope as ' ' full rough ' ' and ' ' moderate 

 rough." This cotton is unique in its 

 class and is used for mixing with wool 

 in the manufacture of woolen goods. 

 So excellent is this cotton that even an 

 expert may mistake it for wool. Its 

 price varies in the market from 20 to 

 25 cents per pound as compared with 

 that of the ordinary cotton produced in 

 Louisiana, which varies from 5 to 15 

 cents per pound. It is imported in con- 

 siderable quantity into this country. 



The sugar cane is one of the most 

 profitable of all the agricultural pro- 

 ducts of Peru, and can be successfully 

 cultivated wherever there is sufficient 

 moisture. Most of the estates are situ- 

 ated on the coast or on the margins of 

 the rivers. It can be cultivated to an 

 altitude of 4,500 feet on the western 

 slopes of the Andes, and as high as 6,000 

 feet on the eastern slopes. 



The production of sugar per acre, as 

 compared with that of other sugar- 

 producing countries, is as follows (a 

 quintal equals 10 1.5 pounds): 



Name of country. Quintals Quintals 



J of cane. or sugar. 



Peru 700 56 



Java 312 31.2 



Sandwich Islands 290 29 



Egypt 192 19.2 



Louisiana 175 10.4 



The total production of sugar at pres- 

 ent amounts to about 160,000 metric 

 tons a year. What is now wanted is 

 the extension of the area of cultivation 

 and the erection of additional central 

 factories to profitably work, these pro- 

 ductive lands. The fact that the culti- 

 vation of the sugar cane and of most of 

 the products grown along the coast of 

 Peru depends upon artificial irrigation 

 constitutes a valuable advantage by 

 securing sure and permanent crops, and 

 thus keeping men and mills economic- 

 ally at work all the year round. 



Simmonds, in his work "Tropical 

 Agriculture," says: "The green and 

 ripe cane are seen in the same field in 

 Peru ; they may be cutting at one end 

 and planting at the other, so that the 

 ground is never idle." 



The sugar cane grows to the height 

 of 8 to 10 feet in twelve to sixteen 

 months, and can be cut during a period 

 of from five to seven years without re- 

 planting. 



The home consumption of the sugar 

 is about 20,000 tons per annum, and 

 the total value exported in 1900 was 

 $7,000,000. 



I may mention among other products 

 of this zone the following : Rice of the 

 best quality ; maize or Indian corn of 

 several varieties, the soil yielding from 

 two to three crops a year ; grapes and 

 every kind of fruits of both the tem- 

 perate and tropical climates. So we 

 have the banana and the apple on the 

 same field ; olives, tobacco, every kind 

 of vegetable, alfalfa, cocoa, coffee, etc. 



The vegetation diminishes and varies 

 as soon as the coast is left behind and 

 the foothills or lomas of the Cordillera 

 are reached. Owing to the winter show- 

 ers that give ample moisture, the soil is 



