ON THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 



59 



drifts ; and only the nooks and yalleys are serviceable for tobacco. 

 The soil is generally light but not sandy, and consists of the al- 

 luvium of the various rivers which, flowing west to east of the cen- 

 tral Cordillera, fall into the Magdalena. This alluvium is derived 

 from the sch istose, granitic, and porphyritic rocks. Lime is present 

 in but small quantities in a free state — that is, in the form of lime- 

 stone — this stone being limited to very thin strata near the foot of 

 the hills, enclosed within very hard rock ; it is the primary lime- 

 stone, white and crystalline. But in this primary debris all the 

 mineral elements necessary to tobacco are found, and only the use 

 of the plough is required to evolve them in sufficient quantity. If 

 the soil of the Ambalema district (the old district) is deficient in 

 any ingredient, it is in lime ; but the Narino tobacco grown in lime 

 soil is not so good as the Lagunilla tobacco. But Lagunilla 

 abounds in the debris of rocks yielding potash and soda, whereas 

 the Narino district, save what is contained of these elements in 

 the alluvium of the Magdalena, yields principally silex and lime. 

 One particular locality must be specially noticed ; this is the part 

 of the Lagunilla valley which was buried by an avalanche in 1845, 

 and which was afterwards a vast lake of mud and gravel. For 

 years very little vegetation appeared ; but by degrees grass began 

 to grow ; and this soil is the most fertile in the district, although 

 there is no more vegetable soil than the result of the years elapsed 

 since the avalanche. This soil is wholly composed of the debris 

 of porphyritic granitic greeustone and schistose rocks, and pro- 

 duces the very best tobacco. After two or three crops, however, 

 though the quality of the leaf is the same in regard to flavour &c, 

 it diminishes in size through exhaustion of the soil, which, never 

 having been exposed to the atmosphere, is but slightly decom- 

 posed near the surface. The plough is the only remedy for this 

 case, and indeed for all the temporarily exhausted tobacco-lands 

 which are now lying waste until rest and a new growth of brush 

 shall restore some degree of fertility. Under the present system 

 of agriculture, or rather want of system, large tracts of land are 

 necessary to produce but a small proportion of tobacco. The 

 Darmilon, Santuario, and los Rastrajos have a much greater pro- 

 ductive capacity, and are well adapted for irrigation. The ground 

 is laid out by nature for irrigation, and has an unlimited supply 

 of water at hand, which only requires to be turned into the neces- 

 sary channels to render the valley of Lagunilla capable of yielding 



