Latin America and Colombia 



707 



trees, sarsaparilla, cocoa, ipecacuanha, 

 gums, resins, and rare orchids. Cotton 

 will grow readily in the open, but so far 

 it is little cultivated, while on the warm 

 uplands are cinchona, wax palms, balsam 

 of tolu, vine of the cross, and the arisa in 

 the forest, and corn, barley, wheat, pota- 

 toes, etc., in the plantations. 



To describe further the products of the 

 cooler plateaus of Colombia would simply 

 be to name those of northern United 

 States and Europe, but the oddity and 

 advantage of it all to Colombia is that 

 the hot and cold zones are in such re- 

 markable and accessible proximity. We 

 do not think of Colombia as a cattle 

 country, but I have seen as fine beef on 

 the hoof in both the hot and cold sections 

 of the Republic as can be raised on our 

 western plains. The day is not remote 

 when Colombia will be supplying the 

 New York market with meat, and it 

 should supply the present and future de- 

 mands of the Panama Canal Zone not 

 only with beef, but with all other kinds 

 of fresh natural products. 



MINES AND MINERALS 



Now let us note the ever-fascinating 

 subject of minerals and mines. Colom- 

 bia would be a rich country if dependent 

 only on its agricultural and forest wealth, 

 but it has a vast supply of minerals and 

 precious stones that alone would make 

 it a land of immense riches. If coal ever 

 gives out in the United States, there is 

 enough in Colombia to supply the world 

 for centuries. It is found in many dif- 

 ferent parts of the Republic, including 

 Cali, in the Cauca, on the Pacific, and also 

 near the Atlantic coast, while there is so 

 much soft, or bituminous, coal in the 

 mountains around Bogota that the nu- 

 merous mines running into their sides 

 here and there remind one of giant 

 gopher holes. 



There are also indications of anthracite 

 deposits which may rival those of Penn- 

 sylvania. So far, these have not been 

 developed, because the natives do not un- 

 derstand or like hard coal. 



Gold is mined in the States of Anti- 

 oquia, Caldas, Tolima, and Santander in 

 richly paying quantities, and experts de- 

 clare that some day there will be a 

 "boom" here like those of the Klondike, 

 California, and South Africa. Silver is 

 found in Antioquia, Cauca, and Tolima; 

 copper in Boyaca; platinum in Cauca; 

 petroleum in Tolima; while lime, alum, 

 chalk, magnesia, sulphur, marble, as- 

 phalt, cinnabar, lead, and quicksilver ore 

 are found in large deposits in many parts 

 of the country. 



At Pradera, not far from Bogota, iron 

 and coal are side by side in such vast 

 amounts that costly iron works have been 

 erected, and it is now proposed to under- 

 take the manufacture of steel by the Bes- 

 semer process. 



Special mention should be made of the 

 famous Musa mine, which provides the 

 best and largest number of emeralds of 

 any mine or mines in the world. It is 

 one of the principal sources of income of 

 the Republic, and as it is further devel- 

 oped it will be all the more valuable. 

 Practically the only sure source of supply 

 for the emerald demands of the world is 

 the Musa mine. It is today one of the 

 guarantees which the Colombian govern- 

 ment uses for its credit abroad. 



EXPORTS AND IMPORTS 



Today Colombia is selling to the United 

 States such exports as coffee, hides, alli- 

 gator skins, goat skins, gold bars and 

 dust, rubber, tobacco, and balsam of tolu, 

 heron plumes and other feathers, straw 

 hats, bananas, cocoanuts, chocolate, ivory 

 nuts, quina, platinum, dyewoods, cedar, 

 mahogany, orchids, etc. The value of 

 these exports to the United States in 1905 

 approximated $6,300,000 in gold. This 

 amount will be tripled when Colombia is 

 started on an era of permanent peace and 

 the national productiveness is accordingly 

 increased. 



Colombian imports from the United 

 States include flour, kerosene oil, agricul- 

 tural implements, mining and sugar refin- 

 ing machinery, railroad and steamboat 



