CHAPTER XII. 



HORTICULTURE IN OTHER LANDS. 



/. Horticulture in Paraguay. 



BY DR. THOMAS MORONG. 



Scientific horticulture in Paraguay does not exist. In fact, 

 nearly all the cultivation of the soil to be seen here, whether 

 in the field or the garden, is on a limited scale, and accom- 

 plished by the rudest instrumentalities. Not that the land is 

 infertile, that it lacks any element of soil or atmosphere neces- 

 sary to produce various and abundant crops, but its people are 

 little acquainted with the arts of agriculture or the improved 

 methods and implements employed in Europe and North 

 America. Besides this, the population is sparse and scat- 

 tered. Probably the inhabitants do not number to-day over 

 200,000, and at least nine-tenths of the country is a wilder- 

 ness. 



The best cultivated farms and gardens are to be found in or 

 near the cities and towns, the principal of which are about 

 fifteen in number, Asuncion, the capital, being the largest, and 

 estimated to contain 20,000 or 25,000 inhabitants. We must 

 look to the emigrant colonies, now three in number, and the 

 estancios of foreign residents to be seen here and there in the 

 country districts, for most of the improvements which have 

 been made in agriculture and horticulture of late years. The 

 native Paraguayans, who live for the most part in mud cabins 

 and unenclosed yards, depend merely upon indigenous growths 

 and the old Indian style of cultivation. 



The common fruits, which thrive with very little culture, are 

 numerous and excellent. The first and most important of these 



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